GHEEN- WINGED TEAL. 447 



QUERQI;EDULA CAROLINENSIS. 



Green-winged Teal. 

 Querquedula Carolinensis STKPU., Shaw's Zool., XII, 18*24, 148. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Si 1 . CH. Form, slender. Size, small. Coix>n. Adult male. Head and neck, chestnut-red, dusky on forehead, with 

 line li;u-k of eye, green showing violet reflections. Upper portions and sides, brown, finely handed on all but wings, with 

 white. ('resccnt-sha|>ed murk in front of wings, and tips of greater coverts, white, the 1'itter tinjred with reddish. Buck 

 of head, bund mi flanks, line on gcapularies. and under portion of speculum, hlnck, remainder of latter, green, followed pos- 

 teriorly with a narrow band of white. Chin, black. Ring around neck white, finely banded with black. Rein a inder of un- 

 der portions, white, becoming creamy on under tail coverts which have a central black line, finely banded with brown on 

 abJomen, and becoming purplish on breast which is marked with round spots of brown. Iris, bill, and feet, brown. 



Adult female. Dark-brown above, with the feathers edged with whitish. White beneath, with obscure brown spots 

 on breast. Otlierwi-c similar to male. Young. Similar to female, and males occur in all stages between this and adult. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Readily known in all stages by the small size and black and white speculum. Distributed, in summer, from Maine, 

 northward; wintering in the South. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of specimens from North America. Length, 13'75; stretch, 22'25; wing, 6'65; tail, 2'65; bill, 

 rfil); t-.irsus, no. LoogMt spadom, 15'0;i; greatest extent of wing, dl'50; longest wing,0'80; tail,2'80; bill, 1-70; tarsus, 

 1'sJO. Shortest specimen, 12 50; smallest extent of wing, 20'00; shortest wing, 6 50; tail, 2'50; bill, 1'50; tarsus, TOO. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND KGGS. 



Nats, placed on the ground in marshy places, composed of grass, weeds, etc. Eyy$, from six to ten in number, ellip- 

 tical in form, and pale brownish-buff in color. Dimensions from l'25x 1'85 to I'SOx 1'iX). 



HABITS. 



The Teal last mentioned, as related, haunts the fresh waters of the interior, whereas 

 the present species, although not uncommon on ponds and rivers, appears to prefer the salt 

 water, resorting to the mouths of narrow creeks in which the tide rises and falls. On the 

 southern .side pf Amherst Island, one of the Magdalen group, are several salt water ponds 

 which were formally lagoons, but which the shifting sand of the beaches have cut off from 

 the water of the gulf. These miniature lakes are surrounded by a thick growth of trees, 

 composed mainly of spruce and hemlock, which have been so dwarfed by the severe climate. 

 that they rarely attain the height of ten feet. I was making my way along the border of 

 one of these ponds, on the sixteenth of June, in company with my friend, Mr. Oilman 

 Brown, when a female Green-winged Teal rose within a yard of our feet; and stepping for- 

 ward, we discovered a nest containing eight greenish eggs which were placed in a depres- 

 sion of the sandy soil on a few twigs, and surrounded with a ring of gray down, thus pre- 

 senting a very pretty appearance. The spot was concealed by the overhanging branches 

 of u little spruce, and had the bird remained quiet, we should have passed without discov- 

 ering her treasures. The female was quite shy, and after circling about a few times dis- 

 appeared. The eggs* were in an advanced state of incubation and would have been hatched 

 in a short time. The Green-wings migrate through New England a little later than the 

 preceding species. 



GENTS IX. SI'ATI I.A. THE SPOON-HILLED IHTKS. 



GEN. Cn. Bill, much lun</i-r than h> ail, narrow til iasi l,vl rial liii/h, anil ii.mli unlni'il unit jliiHi nnl at tip. Lamella 

 o I upper mamlilili ',./<"'' anil i/mitly lenythened. Marginal inil'-ntntinnf, /'. 



The trachea is straight, without dilatation, and the larynx of the male i< expanded and provided with a 'loiiy fnune- 

 wurk. The stomach is muscular. Sexes, not similar. There is but uuu species within our limits. 



