Family ANATIDyE. Genus Anas. 



Subfamily Anatin.e. 



BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 



ANAS DISCORS— Z/««««j. 



Geographical Distribution.— ^«V«/^ .■ Another dubious 

 species which I include in this volume with considerable hesita- 

 tion. Its claim to rank as " British " rests on a single occurrence, 

 and even about this there has been considerable confusion. The 

 late Mr. Gray in his " Birds of the West of Scotland," states that 

 the example in question was killed in January, 1863 ; but Mr. 

 Gibson, in recording the same specimen in the Naturalist for 

 1858, avers that it was obtained "a few weeks ago '' in that year. 

 The latter date appears to be the correct one. This example, a 

 male, was obtained in Dumfriesshire by a Mr. Shaw. It passed 

 through the hands of a local bird-stuffer into the collection of Sir 

 William Jardine, and is now in the Edinburgh Museum. Other 

 alleged occurrences have been recorded, but in every case identi- 

 fication has been found to be wrong. Foreign: Central and 

 southern Nearctic region, more southerly in winter ; extreme 

 northern limits of Neotropical region in winter. Breeds from the 

 Atlantic to the Pacific, south of lat. 60°, but becomes more local 

 west of the Rocky Mountains. Southwards its breeding range 

 extends to Florida and Mexico as far as the northern tropic. The 

 northern birds pass south in autumn, crossing the Bermudas as 

 well as the mainland, and winter in Mexico, the West Indies, and 

 the northern portions of Central America. 



Allied Forms. — Anas circia, a British species, and dealt with 

 fully in the preceding chapter. A. cyanoptera, an inhabitant of the 

 Nearctic region. Distinguished from the Blue-winged Teal by its 

 uniform chestnut head and neck. 



