286 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



I know of a nest with two fresh eggs having been found in 

 February, when the ground was covered with snow. A shep- 

 herd, seeing the hole in the snow, put his head in, expecting 

 to get a rabbit, when out flew the female bird." 



Eggs. Eight to ten in number ; buffy-white or cream-colour, 

 some greenish-white. Axis, i'6^-i-g inches; diam., i'2-i'35. 

 Mr. Seebohm says that they are, as a rule, smaller than those 

 of the Garganey, but they can only be distinguished with 

 certainty by the down. This is sooty or deep chocolate-brown, 

 with a very conspicuous star of white, the tips not being whitish, 

 but brown, scarcely visible. 



II. THE AMERICAN TEAL. NETTION CAROLINENSE. 



Anas carolinensis, Gm. S. N, i. p. 533 (1788) ; Seebohm, Br. B. 



iii. p. 549 (1885). 

 Querquedula carolinensis^ B. O. U. List Br. B. p. 127 (1883) ; 



Saunders, Man. Br. B. p. 421 (1889). 

 Nettion carolinense, Salvad. Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 250 



(1895). 



(Plate LV1 77. Fig. 2.) 



Adult Male. Very similar to that of N. crecca, but distin- 

 guished by the whitish crescent on each side of the upper breast ; 

 the whitish line which envelops the green patch on the sides 

 of the head, and passes to the base of the bill, is scarcely 

 visible, and the scapulars are uniform pale grey ; bill black ; 

 feet light fleshy (horn-colour when dried) ; iris brown. Total 

 length, 13-5 inches; culmen, 1-5; wing, 7-3; tail, 2-95; tar- 

 sus, n. 



Adult Female. Not to be distinguished from that of N. 

 crecca. 



Range in Great Britain. Three specimens of this little Teal 

 have been captured in England, one near Scarborough in 

 1852, another in Hampshire, and one near Kingsbridge in 

 South Devon. Full particulars are given by Mr. Howard 

 Saunders in his "Manual." 



Range outside the British Islands. An inhabitant of North 

 America, breeding chiefly north of the United States, and 



