ANATIDyE. 42 1 



THE AMERICAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 



QUERQUEDULA CAROLINENSIS (J. F. Gmelill). 



An adult male of this species was shot on November 23rd 1S79 

 on an arm of the Kingsbridge estuary, South Devon ; and was ex- 

 hibited by me on behalf of its owner, Mr. H. NichoUs, at a meeting 

 of the Zoological Society on December 4th 1S88. In 'The Zoo- 

 logist' for 1852, Mr. (now Colonel) John Evans recorded the occur- 

 rence of an adult male near Scarborough in November 1851 ; 

 this specimen is now in the collection of Lord Hill. Mr. Arthur 

 Fellowes states (Zool. 1880, p. 70) that he possesses an example shot 

 by his father ' more than forty years ago ' at Hurstbourne Park, 

 Hants, and he correctly describes the essential feature of its plumage. 

 The species has never been kept in the Gardens of the Zoological 

 Society of London, nor, as far as I am aware, in any other part 

 of Europe. 



The Green-winged Teal, so called to distinguish it from the Blue- 

 winged representative of our Garganey in America (the subject of 

 the next article), is generally distributed over the northern portions 

 of the New World in summer, and also visits Greenland ; while in 

 winter its migrations extend to the Bermudas, West India Islands, 

 Mexico and Central America. Its nidification and general habits 

 resemble those of our Common Teal ; but owing to the superior 

 quality of its food, which consists of rice, wild oats, fallen grapes &c., 

 its flesh is remarkably delicate. Eggs in the Smithsonian Institution, 

 from Fort Simpson, are described as being of a pure ivory-white : 

 average measurements i"8 by i'3 in. 



The adult male differs from our bird in having a broad crescentic 

 band of finely vermiculated greyish-white feathers on each side ot 

 the breast, in front of the folded wing ; while the buffish-white lines 

 which run from the beak to and round the green eye-patch are very 

 slightly defined ; the pencilling of the whole plumage also is more 

 minute. Length about 14 in.; wing about 7 in. The female so 

 closely resembles that of our 'i'eal that I am unable to give any 

 specific characters. 



