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; culmen, 

 1.70 inches; tarsus, i^s s «chg|.* v '' S - 



Adult female — Top of head>,%lack ; remainder' bf head and neck, 

 buff, streaked with dusky ; dphflarra throat, wMi^jjJwpper parts, 

 dusky, feathers edged with buff: wing%Qwerts, blue, but green 

 speculum is wanting ; under pfjlg, 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; culmen, 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, 



