292 



difficult to attract to the shore by the process known as ' toling.' In wing shooting it is regarded 

 by the hunters as a great nuisance. It is not only so shy that it avoids the points of land, but 

 by its whistling and its confused manner of flight it alarms the other species. During its stay 

 in these waters it is the constant companion of the Canvass-backs, upon whose superiority in 

 diving it depends in a large degree for its food, stealing from them as they rise to the surface of 

 the water the tender roots of the plant of which they are both so fond. When in good condition 

 the flesh of the Bald-pate cannot easily be distinguished from that of the Canvass-back. It is also 

 thought that birds killed in other waters, though excellent eating, are far inferior to those from 

 the flats of the Chesapeake. The Bald-pate is said to visit the rice-fields of the south during 

 the winter in considerable numbers." 



They further state that this Wigeon breeds rather abundantly throughout the whole of 

 British America as far north as the Arctic Ocean, but only rarely in the extreme northern parts 

 of the United States, both east and west of the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Robert Kennicott took 

 a Bald-pate's nest near Fort Yukon on the 7th June, some thirty rods from the river, on high 

 dry ground, among large spruces and poplars. This species always nests, he says, among 

 trees or bushes, at a considerable distance from water. He invariably found the nest among 

 dry leaves upon high, dry ground, either under large trees or in thick groves of small ones, 

 frequently among thick spruces. The nest is rather small, simply a depression among the 

 leaves, but thickly lined with down, with which, after incubation is begun, the eggs are covered 

 when left by the parent. The nest is usually placed at the foot of a tree or bush, with generally 

 no attempt at concealment. The female, when started from her nest, rises silently into the air, 

 and usually flies to the nearest water, though sometimes she will alight on the ground a few 

 rods distant. 



The eggs are described by Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway as being " of a creamy ivory- 

 white colour, and vary in length from 2T5 to 2'20 inches, and from 1-45 to 1*50 in breadth." 



Mr. Howard Saunders, in his excellent ' Manual of British Birds ' (pp. 421, 422), includes 

 two of the American Teal, Querquedula carolinensis and Querquedula discors ; but I have grave 

 doubts as to the advisability of so doing, and have decided not to follow his example. The 

 former of these has some claim to be admitted, as it does not appear to have been kept in 

 confinement, but the latter has certainly been kept in confinement both in our Zoological 

 Gardens and at Tours in France. 



Of the Green-winged Teal, Querquedula carolinensis (J. F. Gmelin), Mr. Saunders writes: 

 "An adult male was shot on November 23rd, 1879, on an arm of the Kingsbridge Estuary, 

 South Devon, and was exhibited by me on behalf of its owner, Mr. H. Nicholls, at a meeting 

 of the Zoological Society on December 4th, 1888. In the 'Zoologist' for 1852 Mr. (now 

 Colonel) John Evans recorded the occurrence of an adult male near Scarborough in November 

 1851. Mr. Arthur Fellowes states (Zool. 1880, p. 70) that he possesses an example shot by his 

 father ' more than forty years ago ' at Hurstbourne Park, Hants, and he correctly describes the 

 essential feature of its plumage." I do not find any record of its occurrence in any other part of 

 Europe. In size this Teal is about the same as our European bird, and the females of the two 

 species are practically undistinguishable ; but the male of the Green-winged Teal is distin- 

 guishable in having a broad crescentic whitish band on the side of the body before the wing, 



