and green, with whitish edges. Speculum half velvet-black, half vivid grass-green, bordered
above and below with brownish-white, and posteriorly on the tertiaries and scapulars with
black. Breast wood-brown, with round black spots; a crescentic band on the shoulder;
belly and lateral under tail coverts white, middle ones black. Bill bluish-black, i Indies
yellow. Feet bluish-grey, mixed with red.
F o rm .—Bill scarcely as long as the head, narrower, but otherwise nearly of the same form
with that of A. Boschas; the lamince of the lower mandible differ, however, in being very
fine, little, raised, and twice as numerous as the upper ones. Plumage of-the nape and back
of the neck still more lengthened than in the Mallard. Wings about an inch shorter than
the tail, which consists of sixteen feathers. Tracheal dilatation an osseous capsule, capable
of holding a pea.
The female wants the crest, the chestnut and green colours of the head, the velvet-black
stripes on the scapulars, the black under tail coverts, the round spots on the breast, and all
the fine undulated markings on the base of the neck, flanks, &c. The wings are nearly as
in the male; the~speculum, however, is less vivid, w’ith the black more inclined to brown.
The upper plumage, breast, and flanks, liver-brown, with pale margins. Head and neck the
same, in smaller specks. Chin and belly white, the latter obscurely marked with brown.
Dimensions
Of the male.
Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin. Inch. Lin;
Length, total . . 15 0 Length of bill above . 1 5 Length of middle toe . 1 4
„ of tail . . 2 6 „ o f bill to rictus . 1 8 . ,, of its nail . . 0 8
_ ,,, of folded wing , . 7 0 , „ ..of tarsus . . 1 2 . Envergure . . . 2 4 ' © I —R.
[202.] 6. A nas (B oschas) discors. (Swains.)^ Blue-winged Teal.
Gen us, Anas. Sub-genus, Boschas, An t i a. Swains.
White-faced Teal. P en n . Arct. Zool., ii., p. 568, No. 503.
Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors). W il s., viii., p. 74, pi. 68, f. 4.
Anas discors. Sab. Frarikl. Jov/rn., p. 701. B onap. Syn., No. 329.
Cheesteh-qua-nan-weeshep (Shoe-string Duck.) Cb.e e Indians.
DESCRIPTION
Of a male, killed on the Saskatchewan, June, 1827*
C olour.—Upper surface of the head and under tail coverts brownish-black; a broad white
crescent from the forehead to the chin, bordered all round with black ; sides of the head and
adjoining half of the neck bright lavender-purple; base of the neck above, back, tertiaries,
and tail coverts, brownish and blackish-green, the fore parts, including the shorter scapulars,
margined and marked with semi-ovate pale brown bars; longer' scapulars longitudinally
striped with blackish-green, berlin-blue, and pale brown. Lesser wing coverts pure beirlin-
blue; greater coverts white, their - bases brown; speculum dark green; primaries, their
coverts, arid the tail, liver-brown. Sides of the rump, longer under wing coverts, and axillary
feathers, pure white. The under plumage pale reddish-orange, glossed with chestnut on the
breast, and thickly marked throughout with round blackish spots, which on the breast and
tips of the long flank feathers change to bars. Bill bluish-black. Feet yellow.
F orm.—Bill larger and wider than that of A: crecca; lamince like those of the Mallard ;
but the upper ones stronger and distinctly projecting beyond the margin : (a character which
belongs to no other species here enumerated, except the Gadwall and the Shoveller.— Sw.)
Wings an inch and a half shorter than the tail, which consists of fourteen feathers. The
nuchal plumage not lengthened as in the two preceding species.
The female wants the white patches on the sides of the rump, the crescent before the eye,
and the. rich purple tint on the head and neck. Its upper plumage is browner, and the pale
bars are less distinct and handsome. The under plumage is white and brown, with irregular
blotches of a darker colour, instead of neat round spots. The wings as in the male.—The
young birds want the green speculum, and in other respects are like the female.
Dimensions
Of the male.
'IiKSKV Lin/ ;; Inch. Lin.
Length, total . . 18 0 Length of bill above . . 1 7$ Length of middle toe.
„ of tail . . 2 6 „ of bill from rictus 2 0 „ of middle nail
of folded wing . 7 3 of tarsus . . 1 2
Inch. Lin.
. 1 5
. 0 4
—R.
[203.] 1. Mareca A mericana. (Stephens.) American Widgeon.
Sub-fam ily , Anatina?, Swains. Genus, Mareca, St e p h .
American Widgeon. P e n n . Arct. Zool., ii., p . 5 6 7 , N o . 5 0 2 . W i l s ., viii., p. 8 6 , p i. 69 , f. 4.
Anas Americana. Sab. Frank. Joum., p. 700. Bonap. Syn., No. 326.
Mareca Americana. S t e p h . Gen. Zool., xii., p . 135.
Atheekemow-weeshep. Cb.e e I ndians.
DESCRIPTION
Of a male, killed on the Saskatchewan, May, 1827.
C olour.—A white band from the forehead to the nape, bounded behind the eye by a
broad dark green patch, which ends in the nuchal crest. Upper part and sides of the breast
brownish-red, glossed with grey. Base of the neck above, interscapulars, scapulars, and
flanks, minutely undulated with brownish-red and black; hind part of the back undulated
in a similar manner with clove-brown and white, the latter colour prevailing on the tail
coverts. Lesser wing coverts, primaries, and tail, clove-brown ; intermediate and greater
coverts, sides of the rump, breast, and belly, pure white. S-peculum velvet-black below,
duck-green above, bounded superiorly with black and posteriorly with white. Exterior webs
of the tertiaries and lateral and inferior tail coverts greenish-black, the first bordered with
white. Bill bluish-grey, bordered and tipped with black.