THE BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 775 
of prime pattern; head, neck, and underparts dull bufty or pale brownish buff; 
the first two finely streaked, save on chin and upper throat, the last variously 
spotted and marked with dusky, lightening on belly; back and scapulars brownish 
dusky, blackening on longer feathers, narrowly edged with light brownish. 
Young: “Similar to adult female, but whole belly immaculate, and speculum 
dull grayish brown without metallic gloss” (Ridgw.). Length 14.50-16.00 
( 368.3-406.4) ; av. of six males: wing 7.34 (186.4); tail 2.60 (66); bill 1.60 
(40.6) ; tarsus 1.20 (30.5). 
Recognition Marks.—Teal” size; white facial crescent of male; grayish 
blue wing-coverts distinctive (except from the following which is otherwise quite 
different ). 
Nesting.—Nest: of grasses, etc., lined with feathers, on the ground. Eggs: 
6-12, greenish white, or dull buffy. Av. size, 1.80 x 1.28 (45.7 x 32.5). Season: 
c. June Ist; one brood. 
General Range.—North America in general, but chiefly eastward; north to 
Alaska, and south to the West Indies, Lower California, and northern South 
America. Casual in California. Breeds from Kansas and southern Illinois 
northward. 
Range in Washington.—Not common summer resident and migrant east of 
the Cascades; rare or casual during migrations on the West-side. 
Authorities.—| Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814) Ed. Biddle: Coues. 
Vol. II. p. 195.] [“Blue-winged teal,’ Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 
(1885) 23.] Rhoads, Auk, X. Jan. 1893, p. 17. Rh. B. E. 
Specimens.—Proy. E? 
THIS little duck, known sometimes as the White-faced Teal, is among 
the rarest of our Washington water-fowl. Altho somewhat larger than the 
Green-wing, it is not so cold-proof as that hardy little bird, for at the first 
intimation of winter every Blue-wing promptly leaves for a more balmy 
climate. Early October is as late as we are likely to find them in the fall, and 
they seldom return to us from the South much before the middle of the fol- 
lowing April. At these seasons a very few may be found in our fresh-water 
marshes and inland ponds, for this Teal is not a lover of salt water and is 
seldom to be found in its vicinity. 
In the eastern states where they are common, they find equal favor in the 
eyes of sportsmen with the Green-wing. Like that bird they are always ready 
to come in to a decoy of any kind, and are equally desirable as an addition to 
the menu. ‘The call note is very similar to the “quack” of the Green-wing ; 
and, in fact, their habits are so- largely the same that a detailed account would 
be a mere reiteration. 
It is highly probable that a few pairs remain in the eastern part of our 
State to raise their young, for birds seen at Moses Lake late in May would 
lead us to that supposition. From North Dakota northward these birds are 
common summer residents, and during the season of reproduction they seem to 
lose all sense of fear. A favorite location for the nest is in the long grass 
