126 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
start on, back will come the anxious mother circling down to her un¬ 
covered nest. Sometimes in flight the Blue-wing gives a soft thin seep- 
seep-seep. Rapid travelers these small ducks are. Late in summer 
one may see large flocks passing over with blue-patched, whistling wings 
and free, tilting flight. 
Additional Literature.— Bent, A. C., U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 126, 111-121, 
1923— Rockwell, R. B., Condor, XIII, 124-128, 1911. 
CINNAMON TEAL: Querquedula cyanoptera (Vieillot) 
Description. — Length: About 15.5-17 inches, wing 7.2, bill 1.6-1.8, tarsus, 1.2- 
1.3. Adult male in breeding plumage: Crown and chin black, rest of head, neck, and 
underparts cinnamon-broum; fore back brownish 
black with U-shaped bars and edgings of chest¬ 
nut; lower back and rump greenish brown, feath¬ 
ers edged with paler; upper tail coverts and tail 
brown or black; wing with large light blue patch in 
front of white bar and metallic green or blackish 
speculum; axillars white, wing linings, white and 
dull brown; under tail coverts black; iris orange, 
bill black, under mandible tinged with pink, legs 
and feet greenish orange. Adult male in post¬ 
nuptial eclipse : “Resembles the female in general 
but is somewhat brighter in color” (Wetmore). 
Adult female: Like the female Blue-wing but head 
and chin more speckled, and with cinnamon-brown „ , L , . „ T „ , 
7 ... From Handbook of Western Birds 
and U-shaped markings on breast; iris brown, legs 
and feet greenish. Young in juvcnal plumage: 
Similar to adult female but streaked below. 
Fig. 13. Cinnamon Teal 
Comparisons. —Records of female Cinnamon Teal should be made with great 
caution as they are difficult to distinguish from the Blue-winged in life. The 
common rust staining of the Blue or even the Green-winged has often been the 
basis of records of the Cinnamon Teal (Taverner). (See pp. 121-122, 124.) 
Range. —In North America breeds from southern British Columbia, Alberta, 
Saskatchewan, and western Montana south to southwestern Texas, New Mexico, 
northern Mexico (Chihuahua), and northern Lower California; winters from central 
California, southern Arizona, central New Mexico and probably southwestern 
Texas south to central Mexico and southern Lower California. In South America 
breeds from Peru and Argentina south to Falkland Islands; winters from Peru, 
Bolivia, and southern Brazil south to central Patagonia and southern Chile. 
State Records. —The Cinnamon Teal breed abundantly in Colorado, and have 
been recorded from a number of localities in New Mexico, though Ligon has not 
found them abundant anywhere in the State. They were reported common in 
summer on the Mimbres River and the Rio Grande (Henry), and breed south of 
New Mexico at Saux, Chihuahua (Bangs). On the Patterson Ranch lake, about 
75 miles west of Magdalena, Ligon was told by Grover Mayberry that they always 
raise young, and in May, 1915, he found them rather common there. On the 
Mayberry Ranch, 60 miles west of Magdalena, April 26, 1915, he found many and 
was told that they nested. (At Lake Burford in May, 1918, it was estimated that 
12 pairs were nesting. After May 27, single males were fairly common, as the 
resident birds were just beginning to lay (Wetmore). They were observed rather 
