LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 119 



migrate. Doctor Yorke (1899) has described this movement very- 

 well ; he writes : 



About the early part of Auj^ust the local ducks of each State begin to work north- 

 ward; during September they flock together and form the first flight, passing over the 

 same grounds. The collecting or flocking together of the local birds, which form the 

 first fall issue, presents an interesting sight. P^or nearly two days the ducks will be 

 noticed as getting very uneasy, whipping about without the regularity which had 

 hitherto been customary upon their feeding, playing, and roosting grounds. On the 

 day of their departure, after feeding, they will flock to seme large common play- 

 ground; where, instead of quietly resting, as usual, they assume a stage of activity. 

 About 3 in the afternoon, instead of drifting back to their feeding grounds as usual in 

 little flocks, singles, and pairs, they form flocks and sweep up and around the open 

 water and alight again. The flocks soon increase in size and after two or three circles 

 around the open water, each time rising higher and higher, they proceed south in 

 well-defined and distinct flocks, each under a leader, and soon vanish in the distance, 

 never returning that fall. Three or four days of no shooting occurs, except upon those 

 which were too weak and incapacitated for a long flight, before the second issue 

 arrives, which stays a few days. A cold snap brings down the third, the weather 

 determining the length of their stay. The second and third depart at night or late 

 in the evening, but evince no disposition to assemble as the first. They are the second 

 of our warm-weather birds to leave, closely following the wood ducks. 



Game. — The little blue-winged teal is a favorite with the sportsmen; 

 it comes at the beginning of the season, when he is eager to try his 

 skill at one of the swiftest of ducks; it decoys readily, especially to 

 live decoys ; it flies in large, compact flocks, which offer tempting shots 

 as they twist and turn or swing and wheel in unison ; it is unsuspicious 

 of its hidden foe, is easily killed with small shot and makes a fine 

 table bird. We used to look for it about the full of the moon in Sep- 

 tember and could always count on finding plenty of birds in the shal- 

 low ponds, marshes, and grassy creeks; but, unfortunately, it has 

 been steadily decreasing since the early eighties and is now quite scarce 

 in Massachusetts. In the good old days, when these birds were abun- 

 dant, they were an easy mark for the youthful gunner, as they hud- 

 dled together in a compact flock on the water, and a large number 

 could be killed at a single discharge of the old muzzle-loader. 



Dr. L. C. Sanford (1903) writes of shooting blue- winged teal as 

 follows : 



In late August we find them fully fledged, frequenting the marshes of the West 

 where the wild rice grows. They are relentlessly hunted from time of first arrival. 

 During the hours that are sacred to the duck marsh, the time after dawn and toward 

 dusk, they are found. At first many are killed by pushing through the grass as they 

 jump up in front of the skiff or on their line of flight between the ponds. At the 

 approach of evening the first line appears over the tops of the rush grass, flying low 

 and with a speed possessed only by a teal. Another minute and they have passed; 

 the rush of their wings told how closely they came; but no one but an old hand could 

 have stopped one. The next flock follow, the gunner rises in time, and they sheer off. 

 crowding together in an attempt to turn; but a well-placed shot drops several birds, 

 So they come on until dark, when the soft whistling overhead tells of ducks still look- 

 ing for a spot to feed and spend the night in peace. 

 15749—23 9 



