GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEYS WEST OF 100TH MERIDIAN. 327 
Texas. Although, noted from Louisiana, its occurrence there is presumed to be quite 
accidental. It furthermore appears as a summer resident in almost every section where 
it is known at all. It breeds about the Columbia River, at present its northernmost 
recorded limit. Southern Colorado, on the other hand, as determined by our parties, 
is included in its summer range, as possibly also Arizona and New Mexico, although of 
the latter fact no absolute proof was obtained. In many localities in the intermediate 
regions it is one of the most abundant of summer visitants, and in no place more so, 
according to my knowledge, than in Western Nevada and the contiguous regions. 
It makes its appearance on the lakes of Nevada early in the spring, at a date nearly 
coinciding with the general impetus northward to be observed in the ducks and wa¬ 
ter birds generally. At the time of my first visit to Washoe Lake, May 12, all of the 
leal appeared to be paired, while not a few had so far progressed in their housekeep¬ 
ing matters as to already have eggs. 
With all the ducks there is noticeable a great variation in the time of nesting, even at 
the very same locality. The cinnamon teal forms no exception to this rule, and from 
the above date onwards I found nests in all the various stages of advancement. . Fresh 
eggs were found as late as the 1st of June, although most of the nests at this date 
contained either young or eggs very far advanced. Perhaps a certain proportion of 
the late breeders are to be accounted for on the supposition of the destruction of the 
first nests, for ducks have many enemies at this season; and fresh duck-eggs as well 
as young birds have an especial attraction for all the smaller carnivores. 
The teals’ nests will be found scattered over a marsh at large, their chief care being 
to secure a dry spot out of reach of the danger of inundation, which is their principal 
risk, and the cause at times of the destruction of great numbers of the eggs. Some 
seasons of high water about Washoe Lake, as I was told by the ranchmen, prove most 
ruinous to the first clutches, and the swollen inlets of the marsh have been observed 
at such times to be fairly dotted with eggs of the various kinds of ducks, which had 
been floated off by the rising waters. 
An apparently secure locality found, a pair soon satisfy themselves with some special 
little nook. They never, I think, build in the heavy beds of tule, but either select an 
isolated bunch of rushes, or else place the nest in the midst of the short waving marsh- 
grass, where it is sufficiently thick to protect the setting bird from ordinary observa¬ 
tion. Occasionally, too, they nest upon the dry land under a bush, and more or less 
distant from water. But in any event the nest must be within easy reach of a good 
feeding ground, and is usually not many yards, perhaps but few feet, distant from 
some pool or stream. Ducks have plenty of opportunity for the exercise of cunning in 
their domestic arrangements, and some of the pairs display infinite address in hiding 
their nests, and the eyes of the most observant collector, be he two or four footed, will 
often in vain scrutinize the very clump of grass wherein is hid the mother bird nest¬ 
ling close down to her treasures, secure, till a blundering step starts her from her 
charge. If a clump of rushes be selected as a nesting site, the bird enters from the side 
through a space so small that, once inside, it needs but a few slight touches of the bill 
to replace the stalks disturbed by her entrance, and restore everything to its natural 
appearance. And this the female is kuowing enough to do, as she is also to care¬ 
fully cover the eggs during her temporary absences. Like the mallard, and probably 
most if not all other ducks, the cinnamon teal is very indifferent as to the state of the 
nest at the time the first eggs are laid, and leaves the final touches till towards the 
period when the young are about to appear. Then, to provide a soft bed for her off¬ 
spring, the female quite denudes the under portions of her body of its downy feather¬ 
ing, and with the material obtained in this way warmly felts the nest. 
The teal is a close setter, and the female will occasionally prove so devoted to her 
charge as to permit herself to be caught by hand. If the young be out, there is 
scarcely any limit to the hardihood she will show in her attempts to distract attention 
from them. She ilutters along the ground just beyond reach of the outstretched hand, 
and resorts to every effort of dissimulation likely to induce pursuit. I have seen the 
wounded, broken-winged bird, in particular, imitated so cleverly by this teal, that it 
was difficult indeed to persuade myself that it was a cheat. 
The extreme number of eggs at a hatching is, I believe, twelve; and in some thirty 
nests examined at Washoe Lake this number was found only twice; nine, ten, and 
eleven being the more common complements. 
In fair seasons the greater number appear to be hatched out, as I never saw a small 
brood ; and occasionally every egg proves fertile. That this should be the case seems 
a little remarkable, when is considered the irregularity which marks the intervals of 
deposition. 
When newly laid the eggs are of a beautiful, soft, creamy white, and the texture of 
the shell is delicate and a trifle rough under touch. Very soon after the full comple¬ 
ment appears the shell becomes smooth and shining from the constant contact and 
rubbing of the bird’s body, and the delicate texture is lost entirely. The color is also 
correspondingly changed, and now appears as a light buff, which darkens and stains 
