38 
BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
.middle, and brownish-yellow on each side; speculum bright green, bordered on 
front with tlark reddish-brown of the greater coverts and posteriorly by whitish tips 
of secondaries. 
Female. —Can easily be recognized by the wing, which is like that ol male but 
duller. j 
Habitat. —North America, breeding chiefly north of the United States, and mi¬ 
grating south to Honduras and Cuba. 
Common spring 1 and fall migrant and casual winter visitor. The 
Green-winged Teal although frequently met with on many of our small 
creeks and ponds is generally much more plentiful about the principal 
rivers. Late in August and in September these birds are quite com¬ 
mon at Erie bay where many of them are shot for the market. Individ¬ 
uals of this species are occasionally captured during the early summer 
months at Erie bay. Prof. August Kock, of Williamsport, says the 
Green-winged Teal occurs as a rare breeder in Lycoming county, Pa. 
The nest is placed on the ground; the eggs are a light greenish-buff 
color and measure about If inches long by about If inches broad. The 
food of these ducks consist principally of seeds of different grasses and 
weeds; they also eat different insects, and in a few instances I have 
found fragments of chestnuts and wild grapes in their stomachs. 
Anas discors Linn. 
Blue-winged Teal. 
Description. 
Bill broader than in Green-winged Teal and about as long as head. 
Adult Male. —Bill black ; feet and legs yellowish ; iris brown ; top of head, chin, 
and feathers bordering white spaces in front of eyes blackish ; rest of head and upper 
part of neck dull lead color; feathers of lower part of neck and foreback spotted 
with black and margined with white and grayish-brown ; lower part of back and 
rump dull brown; crissum black ; sides of tail coverts, more or less glossed with 
green, white patch on each rump; wing coverts and outer webs of few scapulars 
sky-blue ; greater coverts tipped with white ; speculum bright green with narrow 
white tip behind. 
Female. —Chin and throat yellowish-white and unspotted ; head and neck dark 
colored with grayish and yellow ; upper parts generally dark-brown, feathers edged 
with grayish ; wings with conspicuous sky-blue patches ; lower parts grayish-white 
with obscure dusky spots. Length about 16 inches ; extent about 30 inches. 
Habitat. —North America in general, but chiefly the eastern province; north to 
Alaska and south to the West Indies and northern South America, breeds from the 
northern United States northward. 
This species, a regular and somewhat common migrant in the spring 
and fall, is more numerous in this state in September, than at other 
times during their residence with us. The Blue-winged Teal inhabits 
mainly muddy ponds, pools and sloughs, where it collects different 
seeds and other vegetable materials, which constitute its chief bill of 
fare. 
