BLUE-WINGED TEAL 



209 



that of the Blue-wing appears to be only about seven-tenths as shown by 

 the following figures. The stomach contents of 315 of these birds, from 29 

 States and 4 Canadian Provinces and taken in every months of the year 

 except January, the majority being autumn birds, gave the following 

 approximate percentages: sedges, 19; pondweeds, 13; grasses, 12; smart- 

 weeds, 8; algae, 3; water lilies, 1; rice and corn, 1; water milfoils, 1; 

 miscellaneous plant food, 13, total vegetable food, 71 per cent. Molluscs, 

 17; insects, 10; crustaceans, 2; total animal food, 29 per cent. The animal 

 food of the Green-winged Teal amounts to 9 per cent of its diet so that 

 the Blue-wing consumes more than three times as much animal food as 

 does that species. 



Of the flight of these birds, Bent (1923) says: "From the water the 

 Blue-winged Teal springs into the air with surprising agility, and when 

 under way is one of the swift- 

 est of the ducks in flight; it 

 has been credited with attain- 

 ning a speed of 90, 100, or 

 even 130 miles an hour, but 

 probably these speeds are all 

 overestimated, as there is very 

 little accurate data on w r hich 

 to base an estimate." Yorke 

 (1899) says: "They travel at 

 the rate of about 130 miles an 

 hour, exceeded only by the 

 Green-winged Teal." Audu- 

 bon (1840) says: "The flight 

 of the Blue-winged Teal is ex- 

 tremely rapid and well sus- 

 tained. Indeed, I have 

 thought that, when traveling, 

 it passes through the air with 

 a speed equal to that of the 

 passenger pigeon." Bennett 

 (1938) says: "Many fantas- 

 tic tales of the flying speed of 

 ducks have been told since 

 man first became interested in 

 them. The Blue-winged Teal 

 has always been regarded as a very fast flier. Its small size further ac- 

 centuates its speed in the eyes of the casual observer. It was found 

 by checking the speed of these birds with automobiles that rarely did the 

 speed range over 45 miles per hour. On one occasion two birds were 

 paced at 48 miles per hour. Most of the migrating birds observed were 

 traveling at varying speeds between 30 and 40 miles per hour." Lincoln 

 (1936), recorded one of these teals that was banded in Quebec, Canada, 

 on September 5th, 1930, and was killed on October 2nd, 1930, in British 

 Guiana, an airline distance of about 2,400 miles from the point of band- 



