142 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
from its dark plumage reli@vd by white in front. 
Compared with Dendrocygna fulva it is a rare species, 
and goes always with its mate, but I have seen as 
many as half a dozen together. When taking wing 
it also whistles, but differently from the allied species, 
having three long clear whistling notes, not unlike 
the three-syllabled cry of the Sandpiper, only the 
notes are more prolonged. Of its breeding habits 
I know nothing. 
BLUE-WINGED TEAL 
Querquedula cyanoptera 
Plumage red; crown black; lesser wing-coverts blue; wing 
speculum green, margined above with white; wing feathers black ; 
bill black, eyes golden, feet orange; length 18; wing 7.6 inches. 
Female: blackish above, feathers margined with whitish; beneath 
dull white variegated with brown; throat white with black freckles. 
Tuts Teal has an exceedingly wide distribution in 
America, being found from California in the northern 
continent down to the Straits of Magellan and the 
Falkland Islands in the south. Its fine, strongly 
contrasted colours give it a very handsome appear- 
ance—the wings being clear grey-blue, the body deep 
maroon-red, the feet vivid yellow, beak black, and 
iris gold-colour. On the pampas it is common, and 
almost invariably seen in pairs at all seasons. Many 
of the Teals are quarrelsome in disposition; but 
