232 
ANAS CAROLINENSIS 
Adult Female : Similar in every respect to the female of Anas crecca, except in one character, which, 
although not constant, is worth noting. The anterior buff wing-bar is usually of a richer color in the 
American Teal in both sexes and at all ages, particularly in the outer half of the bar. In the European 
Teal this band is almost always very pale buff, or pure white, especially the outer end. I think it 
probable that at least nine out of every ten specimens can be correctly placed by this character alone. 
Weight 10 or 11 ounces (0.28 to 0.31 kilograms). 
Young Female in First (Juvenal) Plumage: Very similar to adult, but more spotted on lower 
abdomen, and with tail-feathers blunted. The spotting is very marked on the lower parts in the 
young during July and August. 
Young Male in First (Juvenal) Plumage: Impossible to tell with certainty from the female until 
one or two adult, or semi-adult feathers begin to show upon the scapulars, flanks, or breast. 
Adult Male in Eclipse: Similar to the female but the mantle and scapular feathers lack the light 
edges so that the whole upper side has a more uniform appearance. The lower side is almost impos- 
sible to tell from that of the female, but there are concealed black spots upon the breast. A few 
vermiculated feathers are present on the mantle or lower flanks in most specimens. 
Young in Down: Like Mallard but darker on back and much smaller. Not to be told from young of 
Anas crecca. Dark orbital stripe, dark aural patch, and superciliary light streak present as in many 
other true ducks. 
Young with first feathers on the lower side and on scapulars and pileum are very similar to the 
Mallard at the same age, but the lower side is more silvery, and not so heavily streaked. 
DISTRIBUTION 
General 
The Green-winged Teal is the American representative of the Old World Common Teal (Anas 
crecca) and its range is confined to North America, although it has straggled to Europe and Asia. Its 
usual breeding range does not extend east of the Great Lakes, though it does breed at 
a few points farther east, and is a rare straggler on the Labrador coast. Packard (1891) 
took “fully fledged young” at Fort Chimo late in July, and there are several non-breeding records for 
the Labrador peninsula (C. W. Townsend and Allen, 1907; Hantzsch, 1908). Furthermore, the 
species has been taken several times in western Greenland, from Nanortalik in the south, to Jacobs- 
havn in the north; and there is also a specimen taken at Nunusek, east Greenland, in May (Schalow, 
Eastern 1905). In Ontario and the eastern or maritime Provinces of Canada the Green- 
Canada wing nests occasionally. It has been seen on Anticosti in summer (Schmitt, 1904), is 
abundant on the Magdalens (Cory, 1878) where it breeds sparingly (Young, fide J. and J. M. Ma- 
coun, 1909; Maynard, 1882; Sanford, Bishop and Van Dyke, 1903; Goss, 1891). The Museum of 
Comparative Zoology possesses a specimen in down taken by C. J. Maynard in Amherst Harbor, 
Magdalens, on July 19, 1873, and Mr. H. K. Job tells me he saw many adults in these islands in the 
summer of 1921. The species appears to have nested also in Newfoundland and on Prince Edward 
Island (U.S. Biological Survey). Chamberlain (1882) describes it as a common summer resident in 
New Brunswick (!), but this is undoubtedly incorrect. There is one breeding record for Nova Scotia 
(U.S. Biological Survey), and one for Manicouagan, Quebec (Dionne, 1906). 
In the United States the easternmost breeding records seem to be for western New York, where it 
has nested on the Montezuma marshes (Eaton, 1910) and at Buffalo (Cooke, 1906). Two young 
United birds, shot in late July or early August in Orange County, New York, were thought to 
States have been bred near by (Forester, Amer. Game, 1873, p. 244). In Pennsylvania a few 
probably nest in the mountains of the north-central districts (B. H. Warren, 1890), but all these are 
sporadic records. There is no convincing evidence of its nesting in Ohio, though in northern Indiana 
