THE GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 773 
vaceous or ochraceous tinge; speculum shining green, velvety purplish black on 
outer feathers, bounded in front by chestnut or fawn tips of greater coverts, be- 
hind narrowly by white, and on inner margin by abrupt black of outer tertiary ; 
crissum velvety purplish black with a partially enclosed creamy or buff patch on 
either side; bill livid black; feet and legs dusky bluish; iris brown. Adult female: 
Speculum substantially as in male; no other trace of pattern of male save white 
patch on side of crissum; upperparts brownish dusky tinged with greenish and 
edged with lighter; head and neck dusky brown, streaked with ochraceous above, 
elsewhere pale buffy, speckled with dusky; breast and sides brownish dusky, 
ochraceous-brown, and whitish, the former in crescentic and U-shaped markings, 
and the whole suffused with brownish buffy; belly and crissum pale buffy or 
brownish buffy, obscurely spotted and streaked with darker. Length 12.50-15.00 
(317.5-381) ; av. of six males: wing 7.08 (179.8); tail 2.63 (66.8); bill 1.48 
(37.6) ; tarsus 1.19 (30.2). 
Recognition Marks.—The smallest duck; chestnut and green head of male; 
black and shining green speculum, with size, distinctive. 
Nesting.—Nest: on the ground, of weeds and grasses, lined with feathers 
and down. Eggs: 6-8, rarely 10-12, greenish buff or buffy white. Av. size, 
1.82 x 1.27 (46.2 x 32.3). Season: c. June Ist; one brood. 
General Range.—North America, breeding chiefly north of the United 
States, and migrating south to Honduras and Cuba. 
Range in Washington.—Common migrant and less common winter resident 
on East-side and West-side—a rare breeder in the interior. 
Authorities.—Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. Vol. EX. 1858, p. 778. T. C&S. 
IAS Wok, IDES UI, IDE IIS Is 18% 18. 
Specimens.—U. of W. P?. Prov. B. E. 
AROUND the lodge-fire sportsmen are much given to discussing the rela- 
tive swiftness on the wing of their feathered game, and what question is more 
common than, “How far do you lead a cross-quartering teal duck that is late 
for an engagement and flying with the wind behind him?” This query shows 
that the Teals are put in a class by themselves so far as speed is concerned, 
and truly their exhibitions of flight border on the sensational. Moving at a 
rate of certainly not less than one hundred miles an hour, the evolutions of 
a large flock of these birds are truly startling. They fly in such close order 
that one would think their wings must interfere, even on a straight course ; 
yet of a sudden the whole flock will turn at a right angle, or wheel and twist 
as if it were one bird. The looker-on can only wonder what the signal may 
be which is given and obeyed to such perfection, for the least hesitation or mis- 
take on the part of a single bird would result in death or a broken wing to a 
score. 
Unless the flocks are greatly reduced by shooting, these birds seldom 
travel alone, being most often seen in companies of from half a dozen to 
sixty or seventy. They love to feed upon the insects left in the mud by the 
receding tide, or in the shallows of the fresh water marshes. In the latter 
places they dig their bills amongst the grass and mud beneath the surface in 
