BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 205 



The female has the head slightly crested ; crown, dark 

 purple; behind the eye, a bar of white; chin and throat, 

 for two inches, also white ; head and neck, dark drab ; 

 breast, dusky brown, marked with large triangular spots 

 of white ; back, dark glossy bronze brown, with some 

 gold and greenish reflections. Speculum of the wings 

 nearly the same as in the male, but the fine penciling 

 of the sides, and the long hair-like tail-coverts, are 

 wanting ; the tail is also shorter. 



265. AXAS DJSCORS, LINNAEUS AND WILSON. 



BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 

 WILSON, PLATE LXVIH. FIG. IV EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM. 



THE blue-winged teal is the first of its tribe that 

 returns to us in the autumn from its breeding place in 

 the north. They are usually seen early in September, 

 along the shores of the Delaware, where they sit on the 

 mud close to the edge of the water, so crowded together 

 that the gunners often kill great numbers at a single 

 discharge. When a flock is discovered thus sitting and 

 sunning themselves, the experienced gunner runs hi8 

 batteau ashore at some distance below or above them, 

 and, getting out, pushes her before him over the slippery 

 mud, concealing himself all the while behind her ; by 

 this method he can sometimes approach within twenty 

 yards of the flock, among which he generally makes 

 great slaughter. They fly rapidly, and, when they 

 alight, drop down suddenly, like the snipe or woodcock, 

 among the reeds or on the mud. They feed chiefly on 

 vegetable food, and are eagerly fond of the seeds of the 

 reeds or wild oats. Their flesh is excellent, and, after 

 their residence for a short time among the reeds, 

 becomes very fat. As the first frosts come on, they 

 proceed to the south, being a delicate bird, very suscep- 

 tible of cold. They abound in the inundated rice fields 

 in the Southern States, where vast numbers are taken 

 in traps placed on small dry eminences that here and 

 there rise above the water. These places are strewed 



