16 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 9 



three or four of the little fellows hidden in the tall grass at the water's edge. 

 One of these that was captured, was about the size of a full-grown teal, and 

 though apparently fully feathered he seemed unable to fly. Upon being released 

 the duckling lost no time in getting out of sight, and a party passing the place a 

 moment later would never have suspected the presence of a duck near that ditch. 



The Mallards will undoubtedly be the last ducks to become extinct in this 

 part of the state. The presence of an abundance of water is not one of their 

 requirements and isolated pairs sometimes nest in alfalfa fields where the nearest 

 water may be a small irrigation ditch nearly a quarter of a mile away. 



The writer has observed Mallards during the summer months in almost 

 every part of the valley, from the tule ponds southeast of Fresno to the sloughs 

 near White's Bridge, while in the winter they have no less wide a range, de- 

 pending upon the amount of rainfall and the consequent number of ponds. 



Baldpats. Mareca americana (Gmelin). 



'"Widgeon" is the common local name of this duck. It is a winter visitor, 

 arriving in October. It then frequents the sloughs and larger bodies of water in 

 good-sized flocks. At times a few individuals are seen to accompany flocks of 

 Pintails. A few of these ducks pass the winter on the San Joaquin River near 

 Lane's Bridge 



The whistled "whee, whee, whee,'' produced by this bird's wings in flight 

 often serves to identify the Baldpate when the bird itself cannot be seen. 



Gree^n-winged Teal. Nettion carolinense (Gmelin). 



This little duck is one of the first of the family to arrive in the fall and is, 

 on the whole, probably the most abundant species in the valley. It frequents the 

 small mud holes and tule-bordered ditches rather than large sheets of open water. 

 Some winters the Mallard far outnumbers this teal, and again the Widgeon 

 or Pintail seems to hold the most prominent place; but the number of Green- 

 winged Teal does not seem to vary greatly from year to year. 



Cinnamon Teal. Cluerquedula cyanoptera (Vieillot). 



As a summer visitant this handsome little duck probably ranks next to the 

 Mallard in abundance and has almost as wide a range. In certain seasons it is 

 probable that it even outnumbers its larger relative; but unlike the Mallard it 

 does not seem to be at all common in winter. 



January lo, 1912, I was shown a beautiful male Cinnamon Teal that had 

 been shot from a flock of about a dozen individuals found in a small muddy 

 puddle near Riverdale. The hunter who secured this duck informed me that 

 in nearly fifteen years experience it was the first time, so far as he could re- 

 member, that this species had been seen at that time of the year. The birds 

 usually make their first appearance in February. 



In May and June one or two pairs of these ducks are usually to be found 

 about any pond or slough that will afford concealment. They doubtless breed 

 along many of the west side sloughs and probably within seven or eight miles of 

 Fresno, as a few pairs remain all through the summer on the ponds at the city 

 sewer farm. 



The nest that was examined in May was simply a slight hollow picked bare of 

 grass and unlined. It was situated in a thick clump of grass on a small island 



