112 BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 
riving there coastways, in autumn and the greater part of winter, to 
meet the multitudes that have travelled across the interior from the 
north and west. At New Orleans, and during spring, when this bird 
is in full plumage, it is called by the Creoles of Louisiana ‘“ Sarcelle 
Printanniere ;” and in autumn, when scarcely an individual can be seen 
retaining the beauty of its spring plumage, it is known as the “ Sar- 
b) 
celle Automniere ;” in consequence of which double appellation, many 
persons imagine that there are two Blue-winged Teals. 
They are the first ducks that arrive in that part of the country, 
frequently making their appearance in the beginning of September, 
in large flocks, when they are exceedingly fat. ‘They depart, however, 
when the cold becomes so intense as to form ice; and in this respect 
they differ from the Green-winged Teals, which brave the coldest 
weather of that country. ‘Toward the end of February, however, they 
are as abundant as ever, but they are then poor, although their plu- 
mage is perfected, and the males are very beautiful. During their 
stay, they are seen on bayous and ponds, along the banks of the Mis- 
sissippi, and on the large and muddy sand-bars around, feeding on 
grasses and their seeds, particularly in autumn, when they are very 
fond of the wild pimento. Many remain as late as the 15th of May, 
in company with the Shoveller and Gadwall Ducks, with which they 
are usually fond of associating. 
On my reaching the south-western pass of the Mississippi, on the 
1st April 1837, I found these birds very abundant there, in full plum- 
age, and in flocks of various sizes. On the 11th of the same month, 
when about an hundred miles to the westward, we saw large and dense 
flocks flying in the same direction. On the 15th, at Derniere Isle, the 
Blue-wings were very plentiful and gentle. Two days after, they were 
quite as numerous round Rabbit Island, in the Bay called Cote Blanche ; 
and on the 26th they were found on all the ponds and salt bayous or 
inlets of Galveston Island in Texas, as well as on the water-courses 
of the interior, where I was assured that they bred in great numbers. 
Though on account of the nature of the localities in which these Teals 
breed, and which cannot be explored otherwise than in extremely light 
canoes, or by risking being engulphed in oozy morasses covered with 
tall grass, we were not so fortunate as to find any of their nests, we 
could easily judge by their manceuvres both while on wing and on the 
water, that we were not far from their well-concealed treasures and 
7. 
