

594 THE SHOVELLER. 



and in front, only in part, by white tips of greater coverts ; axillars white ; under 

 wing-coverts white and dusky; bill black; feet and legs orange; iris orange. 

 Adult female (and male in breeding plumage} : Similar to corresponding plum- 

 age of Q. discors., but darker ; more of the throat and sometimes chin speckled ; 

 "under parts with at least a tinge of the peculiar chestnut color ;" averaging 

 larger. Length 15.50-17.00 (393.7-431.8) ; wing 7.45 (189.2) ; tail 2.90 (73.7) ; 

 bill 1.80 (45-7); tarsus 1.32 (33.5). 



Recognition Marks. Large Teal size ; heavy chestnut coloration of male 

 distinctive. Females and young require careful discrimination from Q. discors; 

 see above. 



Nesting. Does not breed in Ohio. Eggs, 6 to 12, creamy white or pale 

 buff. Av. size, 1.87 x 1.41 (47.5 x 35.8). 



General Range. Western America from British Columbia south to Chili, 

 Patagonia, and Falkland Islands ; east in North America to the Rocky Mountains 

 and southern Texas ; casual in the Mississippi Valley and Florida. 



Range in Ohio. Accidental. One record. 



IT is a matter of regret that this beautiful Teal is rated merely as 

 "accidental" in our state. Its claim to recognition rests upon a single record, 

 that made by William Harlow, on April 4th, 1895, at the Licking County- 

 Reservoir, and reported by Oliver Davie in the fifth edition of his "Nests 

 and Eggs of North America." 



The Cinnamon Teal is a common bird west of the Rocky Mountains, 

 and especially in the Pacific Coast States, where it breeds freely. No hand- 

 somer spectacle can be conceived by the sportsman or nature lover, than 

 that afforded by a flock of these brilliant chestnut-colored ducks as they rise 

 suddenly from a wayside pond at break of day. It is as tho fragments of the 

 rich red earth, from which we are all made, had been startled by the impact 

 of the sun's rays upon the water, and were fleeing toward heaven earth, 

 air, fire, and water, all in one burst of momentary splendor. 



No. 290. 



SHOVELLER. 



A. O. U. No. 142. Spatula clypeata (Linn.). 



Synonyms. SPOON-BILL DUCK; BROAD-BILL. 



Description. Adult male : Head and neck sooty black, overlaid, especially 

 above, with glossy green and glancing metallic blue or purple ; lower neck and 

 fore-breast pure white ; lower breast, belly, and sides purplish chestnut, the longer 

 side-feathers dusky-barred ; back, narrowly, greenish dusky, becoming greenish 

 black on rump and behind, and glossy green on sides of upper tail-coverts-; cris- 



