WILD DUCKS. 287 
greenhead of the same sex, is about seventeen inches 
long, and weighs from sixteen to eighteen ounces. 
The cinnamon, or red-breasted teal (Querquedula cya- 
noptera), whose range extends from the northern to the 
southern end of the Continent, west of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, is a handsome creature. Its head, neck, and un- 
der parts are a rich purplish-chestnut, which merges into 
black on the belly. Its eggs are oval, and much smaller 
at one end than the other. They area pale-buff in color, 
and devoid of the grayish or drab hue so generally notice- 
able in the eggs of the duck family. This species min- 
gles freely with the mallard, the blue-winged, and the 
green-winged teal, especially during the winter when it 
seeks a southern home. Thousands of these birds may 
then be seen paddling about in some tranquil stream or 
lake, and daintily picking up the seeds that float on the 
surface, or straining the water through their bills to se- 
cure the minute insects that thrive in it, while they gab- 
ble sociably to each other. The cinnamon teal has been 
found in the most northern Territories of the United 
States, and as far south as the Straits of Magellan, so it 
seems to be at home throughout the length of the New 
World. 
The blue-winged teal (Querquedula discors) has a 
bluish-black bill, dull-yellowish feet, and dusky webs. 
The upper part of the head is black; there is a small 
patch of white on the side of the head before the eye; 
the back is brownish-black, glossed with green; the wing- 
coverts are sky-blue with a metallic lustre; the lower parts 
are a pale-reddish-orange, shaded on the breast with pur- 
plish-red, and thickly spotted with black; the tail feathers 
are chocolate-brown, slightly glossed with green; the axillar 
feathers, a few of the lower wing-coverts, and a patch on 
the side of the rump are pure white; and the lower tail- 
coverts are brownish-black. It has a length of sixteen 
inches, and a weight of twelve ounces or more. This 
