320 
GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 
ty-four inches in extent; bill black, irides pale brown, lower 
eye lid whitish, head glossy reddish chestnut; from the eye 
backwards to the nape runs a broad band of rich silky green 
edged above and below by a fine line of brownish white, the 
plumage of the nape ends in a kind of pendent crest; chin black- 
ish ; below the chestnut, the neck, for three quarters of an inch 
is white, beautifully crossed with circular undulating lines of 
black; back, scapulars, and sides of the breast white, thickly 
crossed in the same manner; breast elegantly marked with round- 
ish or heart shaped spots of black on a pale vinaceous ground, 
variegated with lighter tints; belly, white; sides waved with 
undulating lines; lower part of the vent feathers black; sides of 
the same brownish white, or pale reddish cream; lesser wing 
coverts brown ash, greater tipt with reddish cream; the first 
five secondaries deep velvetty black, the next five resplendent 
green, forming the speculum or beauty spot, which is bound- 
ed above by pale bufiT, below by white, and on each side by 
deep black; primaries ashy brown; tail pointed, eighteen feath- 
ers, dark drab; legs and feet flesh coloured. In some a few 
circular touches of white appear on the breast, near the shoul- 
der of the wing. The windpipe has a small bony labyrinth 
where it separates into the lungs; the intestines measure three 
feet six inches, and are very small and tender. 
The female wants the chestnut bay on the head, and the band 
of rich green through the eye, these parts being dusky white 
speckled with black; the breast is gray brown, thickly sprinkl- 
ed with blackish, or dark brown ; the back dark brown, waved 
with broad lines of brownish white; wing nearly the same as 
in the male. 
This species is said to breed at Hudson’s Bay, and to have 
from five to seven young at a time.* In France it remains 
throughout the year, and builds in April, among the rushes on 
the edges of ponds. It has been lately discovered to breed also 
in England, in the mosses about Carlisle.! It is not known to 
* Latham. 
t Bewick. 
