covery when otherwise the birds would have escaped notice. It is very difficult to steal 
into shotgun range of these birds, for they are always on the alert and generally fly 
away at the first suspicious sound or movement. In the early morning and late afternoon 
they feed in the nearby marshes and, since they habitually go to the same spote, may be 
shot easily from a blind. 
“Females usually are seen in company with an old drake at all times of the 
year, but there seems to be a great many unattached males which go about in emall flocks 
numbering as many as seven or eight. Most of these flocking males are young birds with 
only partially developed shoulder patches, but very often adult males may be seen in euch 
groups. . 
"“Muscovies were not found at Barra de Santiago nor at Puerto del Triunfo. In 
‘fact, with the exception of a single bird seen at La Unién, all our own records are for 
fresh water. The superintendent of the railroad repair shops at La Unién told us that he 
often ehot this species about the bays and lagoons in the Gulf of Fonseca, so failure to 
record it from the two previously mentioned localities is not significant. 
"The eggs of this duck are much sought by the natives, for the young are 
easily reared and take kindly to domestication. Very few pure-blooded birds are to be 
geen in captivity, for they cross readily with the imported, degenerate, white variety. 
At Lake Olomega these nondescripts frequently ranged to surrounding marshes in search of 
food and some of them, during our visit, came to an untimely end in consequence. 
Domesticated females are said to mate sometimes with wild drakes, 
"No occupied nests were found, but we were shown eeveral dead stubs and also 
two living trees in the forest at Lake Olomega where eggs were said to have been taken 
from large natural cavities at some distance (up to 50 feet) from the ground. Females 
taken in January, February, and April were not breeding.” (Dickey and van Rossen.) 
Near Océs, Anthony wrote, "Only met with on the fresh-water marshes at - 
Hacienda California, where a few were to be found at any season of the year. The habit 
that this species has of taking refuge in the trees when disturbed on the water, is 
quite surprising to one familiar with only the ducks of the north." (Griscon. ) 
10. Anag discorg Linnaeus 
Blue—winged Teal 
Other Names 7 
Guatemalan: azulejo, zarceta, garzeta azul, zarceta de otoffo 
English: bluewing 
Status.--The blue-winged teal is a migrant and winter resident, more common during 
migration, when it is observed frequently in the freshwater lagoons of the coastal plains. 
Description.--Small, grayish brown duck with conspicuous blue patch in forepart of wing. 
Adult male.--Head and neck gray with purplish cast, conspicuous white crescent 
vertically in front of eye, crown dark, chin black; breast and belly cinnamon rufous. 
thickly spotted with black; wing with lesser and middle coverts broadly blue, outer 
part of greater coverts white, secondaries with speculum green; black around base of tail, 
bordered by white area anteriorly; bill bluish black, iris brown, legs and feet yellowish 
to orange yellow with dark webs. 
Adult female.--Brownish, mottled and spotted with blackish: blue patch on 
forepart of wing. 
Measurements.=--— 
Length, 368.3-406.4 
Wingspread, 609.6-792.5 
Wing, 177.8-190.5 
Tail, 88.9 
Tarsus, 27 « 9-33.0 
Culmen, 35.6-40.6 
Weight.-- 
Male (73), 11 oz. to 1 1b. 4 oe; av. 14.6 oz. 
Female (82), 11 oz. to 1 1b. 3 o.3; av. 13.6 oz. 
27 
