BLUE-WINGED TEAL 121 



dull -white, with grayish brown feather centers, giving a spotted or mottled 

 appearance, coarsest on sides of body and least distinct on belly. Folded wing 

 6.83-6.88 inches (174^175 mm.); bill along culmen 1.48-1.51 (37.6-38.4); tarsus 

 1.16-1.24 (29.4-31.5) (two specimens from California). Juvenile plumage: 

 Similar to that of adult female but wing like that of adult male. Natal 

 plumage: "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" (Sanford, Bishop and 

 Van Byke, 1903, p. 99). Adult males at close of breeding season assume an 

 "eclipse" plumage resembling plumage of female. 



Marks for field identification — Small size. Male has large blue patch 

 on forepart of wing, green speculum, white crescent on cheek and no deep 

 cinnamon color on under surface. Female distinguished with difficulty from 

 female Cinnamon Teal: chin and throat much lighter, no rusty on chest or 

 sides, and head and neck more heavily speckled. 



Voice — Of male: a whistling "peep," repeated five or six times; of female: 

 similar to "quack" of Green-winged Teal (Eaton, 1910, p. 195). 



Nest — Usually on dry ground near fresh water, and hidden in tall grass; 

 made of grass or reeds and lined with down. 



Eggs — 6 to 12, bluntly ovate in shape, measuring in inches, 1.71 to 1.93 by 

 1.26 to 1.36 (in millimeters, 43.5 to 49.0 by 32.0 to 34.5), and averaging 1.81 

 by 1.30 (46.0 by 33.0) ; in color pale olive buff (forty-one eggs in U. S. 

 National Museum). 



General distribution — Western Hemisphere, but most numerous in the 

 eastern portion of North America. Breeds from central British Columbia and 

 Newfoundland south to northern Nevada, southern Indiana and Maine, but 

 most abundantly between the Eocky Mountains and Great Lakes. Winters 

 from southern British Columbia, Arizona, southern Illinois, and Delaware south 

 to central America and northern South America (modified from A. O. U. 

 Check-list, 1910, p. 71). 



Distribution in California — Eare transient and winter visitant, occurring 

 exclusively on fresh water. The following are the only records from Cali- 

 fornia known to the writers: Napa, Napa County (W. E. Bryant, 1891, p. 

 128); Stockton, San Joaquin County, San Diego, and Agua Caliente [:^=Palm 

 Springs], Eiverside County (Belding, 1891, p. 97) ; Weaverville, Trinity County 

 (Salvadori, 1895, p. 299); Vallejo, Solano County (Kobb6, in Bailey, 1902, p. 

 xlix) ; Little Owens Lake, Inyo County (A. K. Fisher, 1893a, p. 16) ; Santa 

 Barbara (Torrey, 1909a, pp. 173-174; Dawson, 1916, p. 24); El Monte and 

 Los Angeles, Los Angeles County (Grinnell, 1898, p. 11; Swarth, 1910, p. 107); 

 Los Angeles County (Willett, 1911, p. 76) ; Bolsa Beach, Orange County 

 (Grinnell collection); National City, San Diego County (Willett, 1912a, p 23); 

 Colorado Eiver, Eiverside County, opposite Ehrenberg, Arizona (Stephens, 

 1903, p. 76). 



The Blue-winged Teal, although a common duek of the east and 

 still more common in the middle west, is a rare species on the Pacific 

 Coast. Its breeding range includes the northern United States and 

 extends northward to central Canada. It is to be found breeding most 

 abundantly in south-central Canada and in the middle western states 

 between the Rocky Moixntains and the Great Lakes. It is rare in 

 British Columbia and has been recorded but once from Alaska. Dur- 



