BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 319 



and insects which dwell in or near waters ; and I have seen 

 a fine male whose stomach was wholly filled with a mass of the 

 small coleoptera, called Donatias, which are seen so nimbly 

 flying over or resting on the leaves of the pond-lily. These 

 birds are therefore very alert in quest of their prey, or they 

 never could capture these wary insects. They are not uncom- 

 mon in the markets of the Eastern and Middle States, and 

 are justly esteemed as food. 



Wood Ducks have sometimes been tamed, and soon be- 

 come familiar. They have even been so far domesticated 

 as to run about at large in the barn-yard like ordinary fowls. 

 In France they have also been acclimated and tamed, and 

 have bred in this condition. 



The Wood Duck breeds from Florida to the lower fur countries, 

 — latitude 60° being the probable limit of its northern range, — and 

 winters in the Southern States and southward. It is common in 

 New England, and rare in Manitoba. 



BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 



Anas discors. 



Char. Back mottled reddish brown, black, and buff ; forehead, crown, 

 and throat dark lead color ; cheeks with tinge of lavender and a white, 

 crescentic patch between the eyes and bill ; shoulders sky blue ; wing, 

 patch green, bordered with white ; under parts pale reddish buif, tnore or 

 less spotted with dusky; bill black; legs yellowish. The female is mot- 

 tled dull brown and buff, and has an indistinct patch on the cheeks. 

 Length about l^% inches. 



Nest. Amid a tuft of rank grass, usually in a wet meadow on the 

 marshy margin of a pond ; made of grass and weed-stems and lined with 

 feathers. 



Eggs. 6-12 ; pale buff or ivory white, sometimes with a tinge of green 

 when firesh; average size 1.85 X 1.30. 



The Blue-winged Teail, according to the season, inhabits 

 every part of the American continent, from the plains of the 

 Saskatchewan and the 5 8th parallel to Guiana and the West 

 Indies. The breeding-plate of these birds is, however, to the 



