170 ANATID^. 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A Rare Visitor. It has 

 occurred three times, all the examples being females : — in 

 upper Nithsdale, Dumfries-shire, 1858 ; on the Dee estuary, 

 Chesliire, about 1860 ; at Ballycotton, co. Cork, Sept. 1910. 



General Distribution. — The Blue- winged Teal breeds in 

 North America south of about 60° N. latitude, from 

 Labrador and the valley of tho Saskatchewan southwards 

 in suitable localities to Florida and western Mexico. It 

 winters in the southern United States, Central America, and 

 the West Indies, extending to north-western South America, 

 Colombia^ Ecuador, and Peru. 



Querquedula crecca. Common Teal. 



Anas crecca Linnams, Syst. Nat. i758, p. 126 : Sweden. 



Querquedula crecca {Linn.) ; B. O. TJ. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 127. 

 ZSTettion crecca, Salvadori, Cat. Birds B. M. xxvii. 1895, p. 243 ; 

 Saunders, Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 431. 



Crecca, probably from the note. Cf. Crex, q. v., and tbe German Kriech- 

 Ente, old EngKsh Cracker = Pintail. 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A Resident, breeding 

 from the Shetlands and Orkneys and the Outer Hebrides 

 southwards, being most plentiful in the north and least 

 numerous in the midland and southern counties of England. 

 In Ireland it nests in every county. From September on- 

 wards, its numbers are vastly increased by winter visitors 

 from the Continent. 



General Distribution. — The Common Teal breeds in Ice- 

 laudj the Faeroes, and throughout Europe and Asia, but more 

 abundantly in the northern parts of its range to about 

 70° N. latitude, and in decreasing numbers southwards to the 

 Mediterranean, the Azores, Turkestan, Mongolia, and the 

 Amur valley. In winter it is abundant where open water is 

 found and ranges south to the Canary Islands, Madeira, 

 Abyssinia, Sokotra, Persia, India, Ceylon, China, and Japan. 

 It has been met with in Alaska in summer and, as a straggler, 

 on the east coast of Greenland. In America it is represented 

 by Q. c. carolinensis. 



