118 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVII 
the combination of a teal with the Shoveller could have caused the general re- 
duction in size. Also it seems safe to say that had the teal been of the genus 
Nettion some one of the distinctive peculiarities of that group would have 
appeared in the offspring. 
In southern California the Blue-winged Teal is such a rarity that one is 
apt to jump to the conclusion that the bird in hand must be the result of the 
combination of the Cinnamon Teal and the Shoveller. If this bird were known 
to have been hatched in the same general region in which it was shot this 
assumption might be justified, but as it may well have been a migrant from 
farther north, where the Blue-winged Teal breeds, it is unsafe to draw such a 
conclusion. 
Among the ducks aberrant individuals combining the characters of two 
distinct species are of not uncommon occurrence, and from the way in which 
the Anatidae have been divided generically, this usually means hybridization 
between distinct genera, rather than merely between species of the same 
genus. Several combinations have been recorded from time to time, perhaps 
l he most common being the mixture of the features of the Mallard (Anas bla- 
tyrhynchos ) and the Pintail (Dafila acuta). Usually such individuals have 
been regarded as the offspring of diverse parentage, as “hybrids” in fact, 
rather than as “mutants”, suddenly developing peculiar characters. The 
present writer has examined perhaps ten or twelve such doubtful birds, and in 
each case the theory of hybridization seemed to be the more plausible explana- 
tion of conditions. 
The arguments already set forth by Allen ( Science , n. s., vol. 22, 1905, pp. 
431-434) in similar cases among other groups of birds, apply with equal force 
to the ducks. Among the ducks there is an added factor, as with these birds 
more than with any others there is the possibility of crippled birds being 
forced to remain at points outside the normal breeding range, among individ- 
uals of other species. In such cripples loss of flight is frequently the only dis- 
ability, the birds being otherwise strong and healthy, and under such condi- 
tions it is not extraordinary that there is occasional indiscriminate pairing of 
individuals belonging to different races. 
Museum of History, Science and Art, Los Angeles, California. February 6, 
1915. 
AN ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS OF KOOTENAI COUNTY, IDAHO 
By HENRY J. RUST 
WITH MAP AND FOUR PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR 
K OOTENAI County comprises a larger portion of northern Idaho known 
as the Panhandle. It is bounded on the north by Bonner County, which 
was created by cutting off the northern half of Kootenai Comity, on the 
east extends almost to the Montana boundary line, and is bounded on the west 
by the State of Washington. 
There is but little level prairie land in the County; of fifty-nine town- 
ships. less than four are level and about two rolling prairie, the balance being 
hilly or mountainous. 
