64 BIRDS 



and fall migrant in the JNIississippi Valley. Though less 

 popular and conspicuous than many other game birds, it 

 is a delicately marked species. 



The habits of these ducks are similar to those of the 

 gadwall and teal; they enjoy mud flats and grassy ponds, 

 feeding on vegetation, aquatic insects, and molluscs. Espe- 

 cially fond of wild celery, but not good divers, they often 

 procure it by snatching morsels from canvasbacks and 

 other diving ducks, the instant their heads appear above 

 the water. 



On June 18, 1900, while searching in the buck-brush 

 on the bank of Sweetwater Lake, North Dakota, the writer 

 flushed a female baldpate from a nest of nine beautiful 

 flesh-colored eggs, well hidden in a quantity of down and 

 leaves. 



GREEN-WINGED TEAL 



The Green-winged teal ranges throughout North Amer- 

 ica, breeding from Minnesota northward, wintering from 

 Kansas and Virginia southward to the West Indies and 

 Central America. 



In size and general appearance, this duck closely resem- 

 bles the blue-winged teal. The main diff'erence is in color 

 of speculum, or bright patch on wing; the habits, too, 

 are similar. 



The range of the green-winged is more northerly than 

 that of the blue-winged, which frequently nests in the 

 central parts of the United States. The green-winged is 

 one of our handsomest fresh-water ducks. It is capable 

 of flying with the wind at a speed of one hundred miles 



