lyo DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



before in Hancock county, evidently a delayed set. The nest, so 

 far as my observation goes, is invariably built on dry ground, gen- 

 erally not far from a marsh or other body of water, being simply 

 a slight hollow in the ground, lined with fine dry grass and soft 

 gray down from the duck's breast. The tiny pellets of down are 

 dark gray-colored, with paler center, which gives the down of the 

 nest a mottled appearance. The female diick frequently leaves 

 the nest for the greater part of the day, pulling a compactly- 

 adhering cushion of down together so as to completely cover the 

 eggs, keeping them warm and at the same time concealing them 

 admirably. On more than one occasion I have visited a Teal's 

 nest, where almost the exact location was known, and been 

 obliged to search carefully for some time before finding the nest 

 again. A nest found June 3, 1894, contained ten eggs, advanced 

 in incubation; shape elongated oval and pale buffy or creamy in 

 color. The nest was placed a few rods from a slough, on dry 

 ground, where the mea.dow grass was about eight inches high 

 (Winnebago). May 15, 1897, found a nest with seven fresh eggs, 

 on a hummock in a dry slough, surrounded by long, wiry, slough 

 grass; female on nest; May 25, 1897, seven fresh eggs (Hancock). 

 County records (other than in migration): Boone — "a few 

 remain to breed" (Henning). Kossuth — "common; breeds near 

 Union Slough" (Bingaman). Lee — "summer resident; breeds — 

 Keokuk district" (Praeger). Winnebago — "summer resident ; 

 nests" (Halvorsen). Winneshiek — "probably breeds" (Smith). 



36. (141). Qucrqucdula cyanoptcra (Vieill.). Cinnamon Teal. 



This beautiful Western species occasionally appears in Iowa as 

 a straggler. The male has the under parts deep cinnamon; the 

 female closely resembles the same sex of Querquedula discors. The 

 species has been taken in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and 

 Nebraska. "Reported from Omaha, April 10, 1896, and April 

 12, 1897" (Rev. Bds. Neb., 27). 



County records: Blackhawk — "migrant; specimen mounted 

 by my.self in museum I. S. N. S." (Walters). Jackson — "Sabula 

 — rare; have had hunters tell me they had shot it a few times " 

 (Giddings). Pottawattamie — Mills — "I saw two that were killed 

 by sportsmen April 8, 1894, at Big Lake (Pottawattamie), and sev- 

 eral more that were killed in Mills county March 26, 1897, (south 



