RIVER DUCKS. 105 



"In autumn the males usually keep in separate flocks from the 

 females and young. Their notes are faint and piping, and their wings 

 make a loud whistling during flight. . . ." (B., B., and R.). 



The EUROPEAN TEAL (1S8. Anas crecca) is of casual occurrence in North 

 America. The adult male resembles that of A. carolinensis, but the white 

 bar in front of the wing is lacking, and the inner scapulars are creamy buff, 

 with a sharply defined black mark on their outer webs. The female can not 

 be distinguished from that of A. carol inens is. 



140. Anas discors Linn. BLUE-WINGED TEAL. Ad. $ . Crown 

 fuscous, chin and sides of the base of the bill black ; a broad white band 

 across the front of the head, its hinder margin bordered by black ; rest of the 

 head and throat dark ashy with purplish reflections ; breast and belly cinna- 

 mon-rufous, thickly spotted with black ; back fuscous, the feathers with cres- 

 cents of ochraceous-butf ; lesser and median wing-coverts grayish blue, end 

 half of the greater ones white ; speculum green. Ad. 9 and $ in summer. 

 Crown fuscous, lightly margined with grayish ; sides of the head and the 

 neck whitish, finely spotted with blackish, except on the throat ; breast and 

 belly with less cinnamon wash than in the preceding ; back arid wings quite 

 similar to the preceding, but ochraccous bars sometimes wanting ; speculum 

 darker and greater coverts with less white. L., IG'OO ; W., T25 ; Tar., 1-20 ; 

 B., 1-fiO. 



Range. Chiefly eastern North America; breeds from Kansas, northern 

 Ohio, and New Brunswick northward ; winters from Virginia and the Lower 

 Mississippi Valley to northern South America. 



Washington, common W. V., Sept. to Apl. Long Island, common T. V. 

 in Sept., rare T. V. in spring. Sing Sing, common T. V. in fall, Sept. 24 to 

 Oct. 17. Cambridge, rare in spring; very common (at least formerly) Aug. 

 to Oct. 



Eggs, six to twelve, huffy white or creamy buff, 1-85 x 1-30. 



This generally silent species flies in densely massed, small flocks, 

 which move as one bird. The white face-mark can be discerned at 

 some distance, and, in connection with the bird's small size, is a good 

 field-mark. 



The CINNAMON TEAL (141. Anas cyanoptera), a species of western North 

 America, sometimes occurs east of the Mississippi. It has been recorded from 

 Illinois and Florida. The male has the under parts deep cinnamon; the 

 female closely resembles the same sex of our Anas discors. 



142. Spatula/ clypeata (Linn.'). SHOVELEK. Ad. $ . Head and 

 neck fuscous, glossed with bluish green ; back and a broken line down the 

 back of the lower neck fuscous ; rest of the lower neck and breast white ; 

 lower breast and belly rufous-chestnut ; upper and under tail-coverts dark 

 greenish ; lesser wing-coverts grayish blue, greater ones brownish gray tipped 

 with white ; speculum green. Ad. 9 . Throat buffy white ; head and reek 

 streaked with bufl'y and black ; rest of under parts more or less washed with 



