320 GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 



ty-four inches in extent; bill black, irides pale brown, lower 

 eye lid whitish, head glossy reddish chestnut; from the eye 

 backwards to the nape runs a broad band of rich silky green 

 edged above and below by a fine line of brownish white, the 

 plumage of the nape ends in a kind of pendent crest; chin black- 

 ish ; below the chestnut, the neck, for three quarters of an inch 

 is white, beautifully crossed with circular undulating lines of 

 black; back, scapulars, and sides of the breast white, thickly 

 crossed in the same manner; breast elegantly marked with round- 

 ish or heart shaped spots of black on a pale vinaceous ground, 

 variegated with lighter tints; belly white; sides waved with 

 undulating lines; lower part of the vent feathers black; sides of 

 the same brownish white, or pale reddish cream; lesser wing 

 coverts brown ash, greater tipt with reddish cream; the first 

 five secondaries deep velvetty black, the next five resplendent 

 green, forming the speculum or beauty spot, which 'is bound- 

 ed above by pale buff, below by white, and on each side by 

 deep black; primaries ashy brown; tail pointed, eighteen feath- 

 ers, dark drab; legs and feet flesh coloured. In some a few 

 circular touches of white appear on the breast, near the shoul- 

 der of the wing. The windpipe has a small bony labyrinth 

 where it separates into the lungs; the intestines measure three 

 feet six inches, and are very small and tender. 



The female wants the chestnut bay on the head, and the band 

 of rich green through the eye, these parts being dusky white 

 speckled with black; the breast is gray brown, thickly sprinkl- 

 ed with blackish, or dark brown; the back dark brown, waved 

 with broad lines of brownish white; wing nearly the same as 

 in the male. 



This species is said to breed at Hudson's Bay, and to have 

 from five to seven young at a time.* In France it remains 

 throughout the year, and builds in April, among the rushes on 

 the edges of ponds. It has been lately discovered to breed also 

 in England, in the mosses about Carlisle. t It is not known to 



* Latham. t Bewick. 



