446 
Q UER Q UED VLA DISCORS. 
ery season, especially in the sounds of North Carolina, and it is extremely probable that 
this bird is a migrant from the North, having bred on the American side of the Atlantic. 
According to authors, these Ducks resemble the American Widgeon in manner of feeding, 
etc., etc. 
GENUS VIII. QUERQUEDULA. THE TEALS. 
Gen. Cii. Bill, shorter than head, narrow, slightly widened at tip, but not much flattened, swollen, nor high at base. 
Marginal indentations, open. 
The trachea is straight and without dilatation. The larynx in males is slightly expanded and provided with a bony 
frame-work. Stomach, muscular. Sexes, not similar. There are four species within our limits. 
QUERQUEDULA DISCORS. 
Blue-winged Teal. 
Querquedula discors Stepii., Shaw’s Zool. XII; 1824, 149. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Cii. Form, slender. Size, small. Color. Adult male. Head, and neck all around, ashy-gray. Top of head, 
black. Cresent-shaped spot in front of eye, white. Back, brown, becoming greenish posteriorly, crossed anteriorly by 
two narrow bands of purplish. Outer webs of scapularies, blue, black, and green, streaked with reddish-buff. Wing cov¬ 
erts, blue with the outer, white. Speculum, black glossed with green, tipped with white posteriorly. The under parts 
are purplish-ash; each feather spotted with black which becomes more obsolete behind. The under wing coverts and ax- 
illaries are black. Bill, black, iris, brown and feet, yellowish. 
Adult female. Brown throughout, with the feathers edged with whitish which becomes more prominent below. 
Throat, creamy. Wings as in male. Young. Similar to adult female but the wing markings are paler and lack the blue 
scapularies; while in the female the speculum is very pale. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Readily known by the small size, blue wing coverts, and narrow bill. Distributed in summer throughout q ill) 
America; wintering in the South. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of specimens from North America. Length, 15'50; stretch, 24 - 00; wing, 7 - 20; tail, 3’20; bill, 
1'62; tarsus, P35. Longest specimen, 16‘00; greatest extentof wing, 25-00; longest wing, 7'50; taii.3'50; bill, 1'75; tarsus, 
150. Shortest specimen, 15‘00; smallest extent of wing, 23 - 00; shortest wing, 6'90; tail, 2’90; bill, 1’50; tarsus, 1-25. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed on the ground in marshy places, composed of grass, weeds, etc. Eggs, six to ten in number, ellipti¬ 
cal in form, and brownish-buff in color. Dimensions from l - 3()x P90 to P35xl'95. 
HABITS. 
Those little Ducks prefer those small ponds which are half filled with lily pads and 
other vegetation and which are so common in New England, as feeding places, and may 
often be found in them in September, at which lime they are making their way toward the 
South. The Blue-winged Teals are one of the most unsuspicious of all the inland Ducks, 
and can be approached quite closely, especially when they first arrive from their northern 
breeding grounds; and as they have a peculiar habit of huddling together when slightly 
alarmed, the sportsman has an excellent opportunity of securing, a number at a single shot, 
before they rise. Some years ago, when I was a small boy, and when these birds were 
much’more abundant than at present, I remember seeing an old gentleman kill upward of 
twenty-five at a single discharge of one of those old muskets, known as a queen’s arm. 
When passing southward, these Teals are much more common just before a storm, and like 
many other Ducks, are much more restless in unsettled weather. There are, perhaps, few 
birds which can move with greater rapidity than these little Teal, especially when coming 
down the wind before a strong gale. I have always found these birds very abundant in 
Florida in winter, where they frequent the pools on the marshes, or the mouths of narrow 
creeks. This species breeds in the West and, possibly, as far south as Florida. 
