Bent, Nesfiiig Hahifs of Anatidtr in 7\^ Dakota. ff "J^ 



Ljan. 



Querquedula discors Linn. Blue-winged Teal; 



This little duck is one of the commonest ducks in North 

 Dakota, possibly the commonest, rivaling in this respect the 

 Pintail and Shoveller, both of which are very abundant. 



It is a widely and evenly distributed species, being equally 

 abundant in all parts of the region we visited ; we met with it 

 around the shores of all the larger lakes, and could always count 

 on starting one or more pairs from every slough or pond hole that 

 we visited, even the very smallest ones, though they were nowhere 

 congregated in colonies of any size, as were many of the other 

 species. But, in spite of their universal abundance, we were 

 remarkably unsuccessful in finding their nests. Though we 

 spent considerable time hunting for them in suitable localities we 

 succeeded in finding only one nest. 



Mr. Job, however, in 1898, found more nests of this species 

 than any other species of duck, and I cannot account for our 

 failure to find them unless possibly we were too early for them. 

 Most of the birds we saw were swimming about or flying about in 

 pairs, which would seem to indicate that incubation had not yet 

 begun, as, after the females begin to incubate, the males usually 

 desert them and congregate in small flocks by themselves. 



The nests of the Blue-winged Teal are generally well concealed 

 in the long prairie grass growing around the borders of the 

 sloughs and small pond holes, almost always on dry ground, not 

 far from the water, but sometimes in moist meadows bordering 

 such places, where the grass grows long and thick enough to con- 

 ceal them. They also nest sparingly on the islands in the large 

 lakes with the Baldpates and Lesser Scaup Ducks. 



On June 12, while hunting through some extensive wet mead- 

 ows near the source of the Goose River in Steel County, not 

 over twenty yards from the river, I flushed a Blue-winged Teal 

 from her nest in a clump of rather tall grass, in an open place, 

 where the dead grass had been beaten down quite flat; the nest 

 was well concealed from view, made of dead grass mingled with a 

 little down, and contained ten perfectly fresh eggs. Undoubtedly, 

 more down would have been added to the nest as incubation 

 advanced, as this is the almost invariable rule with all the ducks, 



