THE AMERICAN BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 285 



Nestling. — Pattern and coloration differs from A. c. crecca. 

 Upper-parts sepia, down with long golden tips ; bar across wing 

 and streak on either side of back from below wing extending to 

 yellow patch at side of uropygial tuft, cream-yellow ; fore-head, 

 cheek and broad eye -stripe sulphur -yellow ; sepia line from upper 

 mandible through eye to nape discontinuous in front of eye ; 

 below this line a sepia streak extending half-way from nape to 

 eye ; sides of body and under -parts cream-yellow. (Only one 

 examined.) 



Juvenile. Male. — Like eclipse female but mantle and scapulars 

 without buff bars ; lower scapulars in some tinged dark green ; 

 back and rump black-brown glossed dull green, feathers with deep 

 plumbeous edges ; chin and throat light buff usually speckled 

 dusky ; upper-breast streaked ash-brown, feathers with long 

 yellowish -white fringes ; sides of body and flanks light sepia edged 

 and with irregular bar of yellow-buff ; breast, belly, vent and under 

 tail-coverts light greyish or whitish-buff with narrow streaks or 

 small spots of pale dusky ; tail and wing as adult male, but inner- 

 most secondaries and coverts sepia edged buff, glossed black-green 

 on outer webs ; speculum sometimes duller than in adult ; greater 

 coverts as adult but distal halves usually with less white, inner 

 webs of outer coverts sometimes with oval dusky spot at tip. 

 Female. — As male ; wing as adult female but outer webs of inner- 

 most secondaries tinged olive rather than dark green ; greater 

 coverts in some apparently with less white. 



First winter and summer. Male. — As adult male but greater 

 coverts usually with less white and inner webs usually with more 

 numerous oval sepia markings. The juvenile body-plumage (not 

 back or rump), tail and innermost secondaries are moulted from 

 Aug. onwards. Female. — Apparently not to be distinguished from 

 adult female but greater coverts sometimes with less white. Moult 

 presumably as in male. No specimens in spring moult examined. 



Measurements and structure. — <J wing 180-196 mm., tail 61-72, 

 tarsus 28-31, bill from feathers 38-44 (12 measured). $ wing 175- 

 192, bill 38-40. Primaries : 1st narrow, pointed and rather more 

 than half longest primary -covert, 2nd and 3rd about equal and 

 longest, 4th 4-7 mm. shorter, 5th 12-15 shorter, 6th 19-28 shorter ; 

 emargination as in A. c. crecca. Innermost secondaries long and 

 pointed, longest about equal to 6th primary. Shafts of long taper- 

 ing scapulars extending beyond rest of feathers in adult £ but in 

 eclipse (J, ad. §» and juveniles scapulars rounded at tip. Tail rather 

 pointed, 14 tapering feathers. Bill slightly longer than head, 

 maxillary tomium sinuated so as to expose distinctly lamellse of 

 basal half, terminal half of culmen slightly but distinctly convex. 

 Other structure as in A. c. crecca but mane-like tuft on nape 

 lacking. 



Soft parts. — Bill (<£) uniform black, ($) upper black, lower 

 black-brown ; legs and feet (<J) yellowish, webs dusky-grey, $ black- 

 brown ; iris brown. 



