I20 DUCK SHOOTING. 



they suddenly become aware of the presence of the 

 gunner, the bunch flies apart like an exploding bomb 

 and the birds dart in all directions and at such a rate 

 that it takes a quick shooting to catch them. On the 

 other hand, if the shots can be fired into this close mass 

 the havoc created is very great; ten, twenty or thirty 

 birds sometimes being killed by the discharge of two 

 barrels. 



While the green-winged teal is much at home 

 on the water and is a good diver in times of danger, it 

 is also very much at home on the land, over which it 

 runs with considerable speed. 



Although this species breeds chiefly to the north of 

 the United States, its nests have been taken in Wiscon- 

 sin, Iowa and on the prairies and in the mountains of 

 the West. I have seen it in Montana, Wyoming and 

 Colorado, accompanied by young, and I recall one oc- 

 casion in North Park, Colorado, where I spent a very 

 pleasant half hour watching an old female and her 

 young as they busily fed in the narrow stream near 

 where I sat. The mother bird at length discovered me, 

 and though not greatly alarmed, she promptly led her 

 flock of eight tiny young ashore, where, in a long line, 

 with the mother at the head, they promptly trotted into 

 the bushes and concealed themselves. 



The green-wing is a more hardy bird than the blue- 

 winged teal and is often found on warm springs and 

 streams in the North long after the ice has closed most 

 of the quiet waters. I have seen it in Connecticut in the 

 early winter, when almost everything was frozen up. 



