44 NOTES ON THE 



chin uniform dusky; forepart of breast and sides of body light- 

 brownish, or chocolate-red, each feather with obsolete grayish 

 edge, rest of under parts pure white; crissum abruptly black; 

 the back, scapulars and rump, finely waved transversely anter- 

 iorly with reddish and gray, posteriorly with purer gray on a 

 brown ground; a little of the same waving on the sides also; 

 lesser wing coverts, plain gray; middle and greater, conspicu- 

 ously white, the latter terminated by black, succeeded by a 

 speculum which is grass-green at the base, and then velvet- 

 black; tertials black on outer web, bordered narrowly by 

 black, the outermost one hoary-gray, externally edged with 

 black; tail hoary -brown; upper coverts black externally; axil- 

 lars white; iris hazel. 



The blackish chin appears to be found only in very highly 

 plumaged birds, and the top of the head is sometimes pure 

 white. 



Length, 22; wing, 11; tarsus, 1.40; commissure, 1.08. 



Habitat, North America. 



ANAS CAROLINENSIS Gmelin. (139.) 



GREEN- WINGED TEAL. 



When the first flock of Ducks of the spring has arrested the 

 attention of the amateur, or the keen eyed sportsman, he 

 looks for the two Teals next. And that well trained eye knows 

 each of the two species at a glance by its flight. Within the 

 duck kingdom the Green-wings have no equal in speed on the 

 wing, and only one superior for beauty. A little incident in 

 my personal experience, gave me a realizing sense of the 

 former. On an occasion when duck-shooting in a pass, 

 not many miles from my home, I was standing behind a 

 bush as high as my head, when I discovered a flock of this 

 species coming from another lake. So directly were the ducks 

 coming toward me that they seemed to be only poising on their 

 vibrating wings when I fired at the leader, and his head drop- 

 ped instantly, for he was as dead as he ever could be, and 

 mine dodged to one side just in time to have the plumage of 

 the bird brush my ear as it went by like a ball from a steel 

 eight pounder, and only reached the ground at a distance of a 

 hundred and fifty feet beyond. It has been said that the 

 Green-winged Teal flies at a velocity of one hundred and sixty 

 miles an hour. Judging it by that incident, I am ready to 

 believe the estimate none too high. In 1876, they reached 

 nearly every portion of the State on the 5th of April, as re- 

 ports from most of them subsequently attested. But I have 

 records of my own showing of their arrival as early as the 



