THE GREEN-WINGED TEAL 301 



England gunner, and in addition to these the 

 family is worthily represented westward of the 

 backbone of our continent by the Cinnamon, or 

 Red-breasted Teal, formerly considered a strag- 

 gler from South America, but now well estab- 

 lished among our own birds. Rarely the Euro- 

 pean Teal is taken in our eastern waters. All 

 have the same traits in common, decoying well, 

 flying at great speed in compact flocks, close to 

 the water. Surface feeders, fastidious in their 

 choice of food, living on the wild grains and 

 seeds of the marshes and the menu of the fresh 

 water ponds, their flesh is second to none of 

 the family in tenderness and good flavor. 



The Teals are said to breed readily and thrive 

 well in captivity. If this is so, surely their 

 beauty should at once find them a place with 

 the breeders of fancy fowl. The Green-winged 

 Teal is the hardier of the two eastern species, 

 staying in this latitude considerably later than 

 does the Blue-winged, being found here as late 

 as November, while the other rarely stays with 

 us later than the first of October unless the sea- 

 son is unusually warm. As a rule the cream 

 of the shooting on Blue-winged Teal is over by 

 the middle of September. 



