Sept., 1914 SURVEY OF BREEDING GROUNDS OF DUCKS 223 fully with the damp black earth on which the nest is most often directly placed. Four broods of downy young Cinnamon Teal were seen, and a "flopper", about half-grown, which represented another brood, was noted. In no case did the broods number more than eight and most of them. numbered six or seven. The downy young look much like those of the Mallard, both species having extensive yellow on the sides of the head. In the specimens of Cinna- mon Teal at hand, however, the dark-colored stripes on the sides of the head are not so conspicuous and the stripe between the base of the bill and the eye is indistinct. The bill, too, is narrower. The broods were invariably found along the marshy margins of ponds, these constituting their preferred forage grounds. The stomach of a young one contained parts of one seed which was so ground up that identification was impossible. Fig. 66. NEST AND ]?GGS OF PINTAlL (l)a.l?la twuta); NI?AR?PI?IqlqINGTON, SUTTER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA; MAY 25, 1914. The Cinamon Teal is the commonest duck at Los Barios during the sum- mer. In a three hours walk an average of twenty individuals could be counted. During the period of our stay, by far the greater majority were seen in pairs, and this seems to show that many had not yet begun to nest. In several in- stances males were observed paying court to females, and in one case a fight between two males was witnessed. Combatants, swimming on the water, would face each other about a foot apart, and make lunges at each other, using both bill and wings as weapons. Occasionally one of the birds would avoid attack by diving, allowing the other to jump completely over him. Cinnamon Teal were the tamest of the ducks found in this vicinity. Occasionally a person could approach within twenty feet of a feeding pair. The male is apparently silent; the female is the one which quacks and is always the first to take alarm and fly.
