104 RIVER DUCKS. 



to the nape, glossy green, more or less sprinkled with black ; lores, cheeks, 

 and throat bulfy, finely barred with black ; upper breast and sides vinaceous, 

 the latter more or less finely barred with wavy black lines ; lower breast and 

 belly white ; back grayish brown, more or less tinged with vinaceous and 

 finely barred with black. Ad. 9 . — Head and throat white or pale, creamy 

 buff", finely streaked and barred with black, darker above; upper breast and 

 sides pale vinaceous washed with grayish ; lower breast and belly white ; back 

 grayish brown, the feathers with small creamy buff" bars ; tertials fuscous, bor- 

 dered with, whitish or creamy butf ; greater wing-coverts brownish gray, their 

 outer webs mostly or entirely white.^ their ends black, sometimes tipped with 

 white. L., 19-00 ; W., 10-50 ; Tar., 1-50 ; P.., 1-40. 



Bangs. — North America; breeds in the interior regularly from Minnesota 

 northward, and casually as far south as Texas ; not known to breed on the 

 Atlantic coast ; winters from open water south to Central America and north- 

 ern South America. 



Washington, common W. K., Oct. to Apl. Long Island, uncommon T. V., 

 Oct. to Apl. Sing Sing, common T. V., Mch. 11 to Apl. 12 ; Oct. 4 to Oct. 28. 



Eggs., seven to twelve, bufi'y white, 2-05 x 1-50. 



Colonel N. S. Goss writes that, as a rule, Widgeons are " not shy, 

 and their note, a sort of whew, whew, whew, uttered while feeding and 

 swimming, enables the hunter to locate them in the thickest growth 

 of water plants : and when in the air the whistling noise made by their 

 wings heralds their approach." They are fond of wild celery, which 

 they procure by robbing the Canvasback and other diving Ducks, 

 " snatching their catch from their bills the moment their heads appear 

 above the water." 



139. Anas carolinensis Gmel. Green-winged Teal. Ad. 5 . 

 — Chin black, sides of the head from the eye to the nape shining green, rest 

 of the head and neck rufous -chestnut ; breast washed with vinaceous and 

 spotted with black ; belly white ; sides finely marked with wavy black and 

 white lines ; middle under tail-coverts black, lateral ones creamy bufi"; upper 

 back like the sides, lower back grayish fuscous ; a tvhite bar in front of the 

 bend of the wing ; wing-coverts brownish gray, tipped with ochraceous butfy. 

 Ad. 9 . — Top of the head brownish fuscous, margined with cinnamon ; throat 

 and sides of the neck white, finely spotted with black ; breast and sides 

 washed with cinnamon and spotted or barred with black ; belly and under 

 tail-coverts white, sometimes spotted with black ; back fuscous, the feathers 

 with crescent- shaped marks of ochraceous bufi'y, and bordered with grayish ; 

 wings as in the male. L., 14-50; W., 7-00 ; Tar., 1-10 : B., 1-35. 



Range. — North America ; breeds from Minnesota and New Brunswick 

 northward ; winters from Kansas and Virginia southward to the West Indies 

 and Central America. 



Washington, common W. V., Sept. to Apl. Long Island, uncommon T. V. 

 and W. v., Oct. to Apl. Sing Sing, common T. V., Apl. ; Sept. 11 to Oct. 28. 

 Cambridge, uncommon T. V., Apl. ; Sept. to Nov. 



Eggs, six to twelve, buffy white or creamy buff, 1-80 x 1-25. 



