[148] BIRDS OF OREGON 



Winters in southwestern United States and Mexico. In Oregon: Breeds commonly in 

 great marshes of Klamath, Lake, and Harney Counties and more sparingly in marshes 

 of Malheur, Union, Umatilla, Crook, and probably other counties of eastern Oregon. 



THE BRIGHTLY marked and showy little Cinnamon Teal is as common in 

 eastern Oregon as the preceding species is rare. Townsend (1839) first 

 noted it in Oregon, and since his time nearly every ornithologist who has 

 visited the eastern part of the State has reported it as a nesting species 

 (Plate 2.4, A). Walker (icjiyb) found it breeding in Paulina Marsh in 

 northern Klamath County. It is an abundant summer resident that nests 

 in May and June, our earliest date of arrival being April 2. (Lake County). 

 Stragglers and small flocks remain until November, or occasionally even 

 into the winter, our latest record being December 15 (Malheur County). 



In May, June, and early July every roadside pond and water-filled ditch 

 in eastern Oregon is likely to display some of these very beautiful ducks. 

 In districts where not molested at this season they become very tame and 

 frequently allow a car to drive past without disturbing them in their 

 feeding in roadside ditches. Most of the eggs are laid in May or early 

 June, and fleets of infant ducklings are common sights on all of the ponds, 

 large or small, during July and early August. When the young are first 

 able to fly they are exceedingly reckless in their behavior and easily 

 killed by out-of-season gunners along the roadside. As these birds leave 

 comparatively early in the season, most of them being gone within a 

 few days after October i, they do not suffer greatly from hunters in this 

 State, and any decrease in the numbers of breeding birds, except that 

 caused by destruction of their nesting grounds, must be laid to gunners 

 farther south. 



Cinnamon Teal, like the Green-winged Teal, are surprisingly swift 

 on the wing and are exceeded only by that species in their ability to 

 maneuver in the air. They are very quiet, the only note reported by most 

 observers being a very matter of fact quack given by the female. The 

 males are among the most brilliantly colored of all our ducks, and the 

 females, in their demure gray plumage and showy blue-tinted wings, 

 furnish effective foils for their brilliant mates. 



Food of the Cinnamon Teal, like that of related species, is largely 

 vegetable matter. Various species of pondweeds, sedges, grass, and smart- 

 weeds and other miscellaneous water and land plants furnish the bulk of 

 it. Such animal matter as is taken consists of insects, mollusks, and 

 miscellaneous items. 



Shoveller: 



Spatula clypeata (Linnaeus) 



DESCRIPTION. "Bill long, much widened toward end; the long, fine comb-like teeth 

 conspicuous along side of closed bill. Adult male: head and neck black, glossed on 

 sides and back with green ; wing coverts light blue with a white bar; scapulars 



