Duck-shooting 97 



follows it on the southern migration. In summer 

 passing into the British provinces, they nest as 

 far north as Hudson Bay and Alaska, the south- 

 ern limit of their breeding range being our 

 northern mountain states. The nest, placed in 

 a marsh and composed of grass, is neatly hidden. 

 In mountainous countries a meadow along the 

 stream is often the site. Occasionally the nearest 

 water is some distance off, but this is an excep- 

 tion. The broods are often large, and we some- 

 times see this little duck with a charge of eighteen 

 or more ducklings. The young, about the size 

 of bantam chicks, follow the mother, keeping 

 close to the shore in shallow water, seldom ven- 

 turing far from the cover of grass or weeds. 

 On September 10, 1890, at the Magdalen Islands, 

 I flushed a female of this species. The bird ex- 

 hibited every sign of distress. Soon a faint peep 

 almost under foot revealed a little teal just 

 hatched. After a careful search we found several 

 others in the short grass. The old bird kept 

 close by, flying within a few feet of us, uttering 

 a plaintive note of alarm. This was undoubtedly 

 a late second brood. 



The green- winged teal arrive in the United 

 States after the blue-winged, and we find them 

 in flocks together in September. They associate 

 often with mallard and black duck, and have many 

 habits in common. In Mexico the three varie- 



