EUROPEAN TEAL 197 



FIELD MARKS 



ON THE WATER OR IN FLIGHT. The field marks of the European Teal 

 are similar to those of the Green-winged Teal. The male can be separated on the 

 water from the male Green-wing by the prominent white line along each side of 

 the back, and by the absence of the white crescent in front of the folded wing, 

 which is present in that bird; these marks are noticeable on the water or on land, 

 if viewed close at hand or with glasses. See Green-winged Teal. 



VOICE. Like that of Green-winged Teal. Male, a soft single or double whistle; 

 female, a weak, high sounding quack. 



LIFE STORY 



The European Teal, close kin to our Green-winged Teal, is widely 

 distributed over the Old World, and is the common teal throughout 

 Europe and Asia. It has occurred casually but frequently on the Atlan- 

 tic coast of America, from Greenland to North Carolina. 



For a long time it was not known to breed on this continent, and the 

 Teal, which is a common breeder on the Aleutian Islands, had always 

 been assumed to be our Green-winged Teal. Bent (1923) states, how- 

 ever, that in 1911 he found the European Teal to be a regular summer 

 resident on these islands and that all of the breeding teals he collected 

 there were of this species; not a single male Green-wing was collected or 

 identified anywhere in the Aleutians. He drew the conclusion, therefore, 

 that the European Teal is the common breeding species of this region 

 and that the Green-wing, which is so abundant on the mainland of 

 Alaska, occurs on these islands rarely, if at all. 



It is probable that the European species, breeding on the Aleutians, 

 migrates down the Asiatic coast to Siam and India with those of its 

 kind that breed in Siberia. As teals in their migrations are inclined to 

 stray from their regular routes, many of these birds no doubt visit the 

 Pacific coast of America, but on account of their great similarity to our 

 Green-wings (the females of the two species are indistinguishable) have 

 been overlooked; teals taken in this locality should be examined and 

 specimens of the European species should be reported to the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, Washington, D. C., or to the National Museum of 

 Canada, Ottawa, Canada. 



In its nesting habits, the number, size (average 1.76 by 1.28 inches) 

 and colour of its eggs, in its manner of flight, general behaviour, and the 

 choiceness of its flesh, the European Teal is the counterpart of our 

 Green-winged Teal. 



