GREEN-WINGED TEAL. II9 



white, and the tail feathers gray, edged with white. On 

 the side of the breast, in front of the bend of the wing, 

 is a broad white bar. The tips of the last row of wing- 

 coverts are margined with yellowish. The speculum is 

 black and green, margined with white. The outer 

 scapulars are velvety-black. The belly and a patch on 

 either side of the under tail-coverts are rich buff, the 

 under tail-coverts black. The bill is dark, nearly black, 

 and the feet grayish -black. The length is about I4-| 

 inches. 



The female is brownish, the feathers being gener- 

 ally margined with buff. The sides of head are whit- 

 ish, speckled with brownish. The wing is like that 

 of the male, but the speculum is somewhat smaller 

 and duller. The breast is usually more or less spotted 

 and the under parts are white, with faint indications of 

 spots. 



The green-winged teal is found over the whole of 

 North America, from the Arctic Sea on the north to 

 the Gulf of Mexico and Central America on the south. 

 It occurs also in Cuba. It is one of the most beautiful 

 of our ducks and is highly esteemed by gunners. 



Unlike many of our better known fresh-water ducks, 

 the green-winged teal is rather common in New Eng- 

 land, as well as in the interior and to the southward, 

 and wherever found it is a great favorite. It flies with 

 astonishing speed, but with great steadiness, and often 

 the flocks are of very great size and fly so closely 

 bunched together that they resemble more a flock of mi- 

 grating blackbirds than of ducks. At such times, if 



