on THE GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 
No. 287. 
GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 
iN O. U. No. 139. Nettion carolinensis (Gmel.). 
Synonym.—AMERICAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 
Description.—Adult male: Head and upper neck bright chestnut, blacken- 
ing on chin; darker on forehead and crown, with a glossy green patch from and 
including eye to nape, usually separated from chestnut below by a narrow white 
line which is sometimes traceable to bill; a short occipital crest velvety purplish 
black ; a crescentic white patch on side of breast betore wing; sides of breast and 
sides, back, and scapulars continuous with narrow cervical collar, black and white 
in fine wavy bars or vermiculations; fore-neck and breast brownish buff, fading 
to silky white or buffy on belly, heavily marked anteriorly with round spots, more 
or less concealed, or not, according to age and season (?); wing-coverts, inter- 
scapulars, tertiaries, rump, and posterior parts, slaty gray or fuscous with an oli- 
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 ter- 
tiary; 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; upper parts brownish dusky tinged with 
greenish and edged with lighter; head and neck dusky brown, streaked with och- 
raceous above, elsewhere pale buffy, speckled with dusky; breast and sides brown- 
ish 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 Columbus 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.—Not known to breed in Ohio. 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 127 (46.2 x 32.3). 
General Range,—North America, breeding chiefly north of the United States, 
and migrating south to Honduras and Cuba. 
Range in Ohio.— Not uncommon migrant. Formerly abundant. 
THE rare beauty of this diminutive duck is not likely to escape notice, 
and its flesh has received a correspondingly high rating, altho it takes 
two of them on a single plate to provide a meal for a hungry gunner. This 
Teal is among the earliest migrants, following promptly the retreat of the 
ice in late February and early March, or gathering about the open spring 
branches, upon the recurrence of a cold snap. It is much less common than 
formerly, and appears in twos and threes rather than in large flocks; these 
little companies may be found in the most unexpected places,—a wayside 
ditch, a horse pond, or an isolated swamp pool. ‘The bird obtains its food 
largely upon the land, walking with ease and grace. Fallen seeds, nuts, 
