Duck-shooting 99 



BLUE-WINGED TEAL 



(Querquedula discors) 



Adult male Top of head, chin, and space along base of bill, black ; 

 a crescentric band of white, edged with black, goes from the 

 forehead in front of the eye to the throat; rest of head and 

 neck plumbaceous, with a metallic purple gloss on occiput ; 

 back, dusky, with bars of buff ; long scapulars, greenish black, 

 with a central stripe of buff; lesser wing-coverts, pale blue; 

 greater coverts, dusky, with white tips forming a bar in front of 

 the speculum, which is metallic green ; lower back and upper tail- 

 coverts, dusky ; a white patch on each side of the tail ; entire 

 lower parts, reddish buff, spotted with dusky, becoming paler on 

 lower breast ; under tail-coverts, black ; iris, brown ; bill, black ; 

 legs and feet, yellow, with dusky webs. 



Measurements Length, 15 inches; wing, 7.30 inches; oilmen, 

 1.70 inches; tarsus, 1.20 inches. 



Adult female Top of head, black ; remainder of head and neck, 

 buff, streaked with dusky ; chin and throat, white ; upper parts, 

 dusky, feathers edged with buff; wing-coverts, blue, but green 

 speculum is wanting ; under parts, buff, with dusky markings ; 

 bill, greenish black ; legs and feet, greenish yellow. The blue 

 patch on the shoulder is distinctive. 



Measurements Length, 15 inches; wing, 7 inches; oilmen, 1.40 

 inches; tarsus, 1.12 inches. 



Young male Similar to female ; white throat, speckled with dusky ; 

 green speculum is visible ; under parts, buff, barred with dusky. 

 Male during breeding season assumes the dull plumage of the 

 female. 



Downy young Top of head and upper parts, brown ; buff spots in 

 front of wing, across wing, and at side of rump ; forehead, line 

 to eye and lower parts, pale buff; sides of head and hind neck, 

 ochraceous buff. 



Eggs Ten to twelve in number, pale buff in color, and measure 

 1.85 by 1.30 inches. 



Habitat Breeds from Maine, occasionally Rhode Island, western 

 New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, 

 Nevada, Wyoming, and British Columbia, and probably Texas, 



