BLTJE-WINGED TEAL 303 



may, however, be identified by the long slender neck and 

 by the pure, white under parts. 



Blue-winged Teal. Querquedula discors 

 16.00 



Ad. $ . — Head apparently dusky, a hroad white crescent in 

 front of the eye; back brown, upper back mottled with bu£E ; 

 upper parts bufpy or reddish-buff, everywhere spotted with black; 

 wing when closed has a light blue patch, edged with white, and a 

 concealed greenish patch ; bill black ; legs and feet yellow. 

 Ad. $. — Top of head blackish; throat whitish, no white crescent ; 

 back and wings dusky ; under parts gray, streaked on the breast 

 with black; loing as in $, but with less blue; bUl greenish-black; 

 legs and feet greenish-yellow. 



Nest, on the ground, in weeds and rushes. Eggs, pale bnfB. 



The Blue-winged Teal is a migrant through New York 

 and New England, breeding rarely in northern and eastern 

 Maine. It has become 

 scarcer of late years, and 

 though still commoner than 

 the following species, it 

 can hardly be called com- 

 mon except in the wilder 

 portions of Maine. It is 

 everywhere rarer in spring 



than in autumn, occurring _ - . _ - 



generally from the end of A »fc**,' 



August to October. Teal, 



,., °,, ,, . , , Fig. 87. Bhje-winged Teal 



like the other river ducks, 



feed at night, and lie concealed by day. Toward dusk they 



approach the pond or marsh where they hope to feed, and 



may be known on the wing by their small size and great 



speed. When seen by day the male is easily recognized by 



the ivhite crescent before the eye and by the blue in the 



wing ; the latter mark also distinguishes the female. (See 



the following species.) 



