GKEEN-WINGED TEAL. 85 



QTJEEQl/EDULA CAROLINENSIS. 



Green- winged Teal. 



Querquedula Caro/inenxjs SxErn., Shaw's Zool., XII. 18-il, 148. 



DKSCPJPTTON. 



Sp. Cn. Form, slendi.r. Size, small. Colok. At/u/i male. Head and neck, cliestniit-red, dusky on foreliead, with 

 line bacl£ of eye, green showini; violet reflections. Upper portions and sides, brown, finely banded on all but winirs, with 

 white. Crescent-shaped mark in front of wings, and tips of greater coverts, white, the litter tinaed with reddish. Back 

 of head, band on flanks, line on seapularies, and under portion of .speculum, black, remainder of latter, green, lol lowed pos- 

 teriorly with a narrow band of white. Chin, black. Ring around neck white, finely banded witli black. Kemaindcrof un- 

 der portions, white, becoming creamy on under tail coverts which have a central black line, finely banded witli brown on 

 abdomen, and becoming purplish on breast which is marked with round spots of brown. Iris, bill, and feet, brown. 



Adult female. Dark-brown above, with the feathers edged with whitish. White beneath, with obscure brown spots 

 on breast. Otherwise similar to male. Young. Similar to female, and males occur in all stages between this and adult. 



OBSERVATIONS. 

 Readily known in all stages by the small size and black and white speculum. Distributed, in summer, fioin Maine, 

 northward; wintering in the South. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Average measurements of specimens from North America. Length, 13'75; stretch, 22'25; wing, 665; tail, 265; bill, 

 reO; tar.sus, I'lO. Longest specimen, 15'0l>; greatest extent of wing, 24'.')fl; longest wing,6'80; tail,2-8[1; bill, 1-70; tareus, 

 1'20. Shoi'test specimen, 12'50; smallest extent of wing, 2'J'OO; shortest wing, 6 50; tail, 2-50; bill, 1-50; tai-sus, I'OO. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND KGGS. 

 Ncs/s, placed on the ground in marshy places, composed of gi-as«, weeds, etc' Egys, from sis to ten in number, ellip- 

 tical in form, and pale brownlsh-buli' in color. Dimensions from r25s 1H5 to TSOx 1'9(). 



HABITS. 



The Teal last mentioned, as related, haunts the fresh waters of the interior, whereas 

 the present species, although not uncommon on ponds and rivers, appears to prefer the salt 

 water, resorting to the mouths of narrow cretdvs in which the tide rises and f dls. On the 

 southern side of Amherst Island, one of tlie Magdalen group, are several salt water ponds 

 which were formally lagoons, but which the shifting sand of the beaches have out off from 

 the water of the gulf. These miniature lakes are surrounded by a thick growth of trees, 

 composed mainly of spruce and hemlock, which have been so dwarfed by the severe climate, 

 that they rarely attain tlie height of ten feet. I was mtiking my way along I he border of 

 one of these ponds, on the sixteenth of June, in company with my iViend, Mr. Oilman 

 Brown, when a female Green-winged Teal rose within a yard of our feet; and stepping for- 

 ward, we discovered a nest containing eight greenish eggs which were placed in a depres- 

 sion of the sandy soil on a few twigs, and surrounded with a ring of gray down, thus pre- 

 senting a very pretty appearance. The spot was concealed by the overlianging branches 

 of a little spruce, and had the bird remained quiet, we should have passed without discov- 

 ering her treasures. The female was quite shy, and after circling about a few times dis- 

 appeared. The eggs were in an advanced state of incubation and would have been hatched 

 in a short time. The Green-wings migrate through New England a little later than the 

 preceding species. 



GENUS IX. SPATULA. THE SPOON-BILLED DUCKS, 



Gen. Oil. Bill . much longer than head , narrow at base but not high, and much widened and flattmed at tip. Lamella 

 of upper mandible, fine and greatly lengthened. Marginal indentations, open. 



The trachea is straight, without dilatation, and the larynx of tho male i-i expanded and provided with a bony frame- 

 work. The stomach is muscular. Sexes, not similar. There is but one upecies within our limits. 



