456 Kennard, New Subspecies of Blue-winged Teal. [ "£ 



Mr. R. B. Worthen, a gunner and collector of wide experience. 

 Later still, while staying on Mr. Mcllhenny's houseboat on the 

 Ward-Mcllhenny Game Preserve, in Vermilion Parish, we again 

 heard of the bird from his warden there, and saw numbers of them 

 among the other Teal that were wintering in the adjacent sloughs. 

 They are known locally as the "Necktie Teal" among the gunners 

 and natives along the Louisiana marshes, and seem to be recognized 

 by them as the resident breeding birds of the region. 



Mr. Mcllhenny writes, regarding the white patch on the nape, 

 "all of the birds that nest in the south seem to have the marking 

 faintly, and about fifteen to twenty per cent have it very pro- 

 nounced." 



Mr. Worthen writes, "From what I can learn about the White- 

 crested Teal, they are the birds that breed with us . . . . All the Teal 

 that I ever collected with the white crest were in pairs, and I think 

 there is no doubt that they are the birds that stay with us, and the 

 others go farther north to breed." 



From the data that I have since been able to assemble, it appears 

 that the Blue-winged Teal from the north begin to arrive along the 

 Gulf Coast about the middle of September, and are there in large 

 numbers until about the middle of October, when many of them 

 leave for the south. By the first of December, the great majority 

 of the large flocks have departed, though some birds remain through- 

 out the winter. Mr. Mcllhenny writes that "the regular migra- 

 tion of Blue-winged Teal from the north begins about the middle 

 of September, and most of them have left by the end of October, 

 although a great many stay here all winter," while Mr. Worthen 

 states, "The Blue-winged Teal arrives here from the north from the 

 15th of September to the loth of October and stays until the first 

 of December and then goes farther south; some stay all winter." 



After spending the winter farther south, these northern birds 

 return to Louisiana, usually some time in March, and, picking up 

 their fellows who happen to have wintered there, wend their way 

 north early in April, practically all of them having departed by 

 May 1. Of this northern movement Mr. Mcllhenny writes, " There 

 is a heavy migration in the spring, about March 10th. The birds 

 increase in numbers until April 1st, when they begin to decrease 

 and leave only resident birds in the marshes," and Mr. Worthen, 



