THE GEEEN-WINGED TEAL. 279 



is said to stay sometimes and breed as far south as 

 Texas. 



On one occasion, while with two friends (I was shoot- 

 ing prairie hens in September, on the prairie near West 

 Columbia), we observed a flock of seventeen blue-winged 

 ' teal wheeling round a prairie pond. We dropped into 

 the tall grass and watched them. Suddenly, they fell 

 like so many lumps of lead (as is the fashion of these 

 birds) into the water. We crawled up cautiouslj^ At 

 a sign from one to the other that all was ready, we 

 emptied our right-hand barrels. Fifteen of the teal were 

 killed or wounded, and the surviving pair were stopped 

 by two shots from the left-hand barrels of our guns. 



They feed chiefly on vegetable food, and are particu- 

 larly fond of grass-seeds, and the grains of the wild- 

 oats and reeds. They are often trapped by the negroes 

 in the common contrivance called a ' figure of four.' 



The Grreen -Winged Teal is almost like the European. 

 It differs from it simply by wanting the white line 

 which the European teal has above each eye ; and for 

 years I shot this bird, considering it identical with those 

 I had killed in the fens at Botsham, in Cambridgeshire, 

 where I v/asted more time than I did in the lecture - 

 room of Queen's College, Cambridge. 



The Wood, or Summer Duck (Anas Sponsa), is one of 

 the prettiest of all the ducks. Constantly to be found 

 in the forest ponds, or in the bayous and streams fringed 

 by timber, it is rarely seen in the unsheltered ponds on 



