BLUE-WINGED TEAL 
381 
As in other Teal the actual speed in miles per hour is deceptive. Eaton (1910) 
credited this species with a speed of two miles per minute, but from what we now 
know of the velocity of flight of ducks in general it seems likely that flfty to fifty- 
flve miles an hour would be the maximum. Like the Green-wing they gather into 
very large flocks on their favorite feeding grounds. These great aggregations break 
up into smaller flocks when flushed. Flocks of from twelve to fifty are perhaps the 
average during migration. 
An excellent sport, and one that will severely test the quickness of the operator, is 
photographing these Teal over wooden decoys. It is extremely difficult to judge the 
distance correctly so that the focus will be sharp, and still harder to get the flock in 
the picture. One bunch of which I secured a good flying picture at about twenty- 
five yards, contains one hundred and fifteen birds. 
Association with other Species. They mix almost indiscriminately with the 
Green-winged Teal both during migration and in their winter quarters. In our 
northeastern States single individuals are often seen with Black Duck. Their 
fondness for the salt-marshes and flats brings them into contact with various species 
of shore-birds, as noted by Audubon in Florida and by Sanford (Sanford, Bishop 
and Van Dyke, 1903) near Tampico, Mexico. On their nesting grounds the Blue- 
wings are neither gregarious nor inclined to associate with other species. Records 
of mixed clutches are, therefore, rare. Rockwell (1911) tells of one nest found near 
Barr Lake, Colorado, which was in the side of a muskrat house and contained four 
eggs of the Teal and five of some big duck, all nine eggs being incubated. Another 
nest was less than three feet distant from that of a Spotted Sandpiper. 
Voice. This Teal is a silent bird, more so, I should say, than the Green-wing. 
Even when alarmed they do not ordinarily make a noise, so that one may watch 
them for some time before hearing a characteristic sound. The male’s note is a high- 
pitched sort of squeak, quite different from that of any other Teal, and well de- 
scribed by Wetmore (1920) as a tseel-tseel-tseel. I think this note is seldom heard, 
excepting on the breeding grounds. 
The female’s call, which is very seldom heard, is an occasional quack, high-pitched 
and coarse, and less Mallardlike than that of the female Green-wing. From large 
feeding flocks in early autumn one hears a constant chattering, very froglike in 
character and interspersed with many mouselike squeaks and an occasional quack. 
Even when displaying, captive birds are far more quiet than most ducks. 
The tracheal bulb faces to the left and front, is roughly spherical in shape, 
but more expanded toward the left, smooth and hard, and measures 15 mm. or 
less in its largest diameter, so that it is a good deal smaller than in the Cinna- 
mon Teal. The trachea is very slightly expanded in the lower third of its 
