386 
ANAS DISCORS 
Like all western breeding ducks the Blue-wings appear as much more abun- 
dant migrants on the Atlantic coast as one passes south of Delaware Bay. They 
become really numerous on the great brackish marshes of Virginia and North 
Carolina. The records of shooting clubs, however, are of no particular value, be- 
cause both species of Teal are usually lumped. Besides this the shooting always 
began as late as November 1, and recently not until November 10, so that the Blue- 
wings had almost all passed. The records of the Swan Island Club for the seasons 
1909-10 to 1918-19 are interesting only as showing the scarcity of Blue-wings after 
November 10. Only nineteen were taken in these ten shooting seasons. 
Up to the time when the growing of rice ceased in the coastal marshes of South 
Carolina these Teal were extremely abundant, and no doubt a good many wintered 
there. Since then, that is since the Civil War, the failure of this crop has greatly 
changed the character of the feeding grounds, and the region is far less favorable for 
Teal. 
The great winter stronghold of this species in the United States is from the 
mouths of the Mississippi westward along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. In 
the Vermilion Bay region I have seen them wintering literally by the hundreds of 
thousands in -lanuary, although they are said to be exceeded by the Green-wing at 
this season. On their return in spring, however, the Blue-wing greatly outnumbers 
the Green-wing (Beyer, Allison and Kopman, 1907). 
As far west as the main range of the Rocky Mountains the Blue-wing occurs in enor- 
mous numbers, and is l)y far the commonest species during the month of September, 
outnumbering even the Pintail on the sloughs and small ponds of the high plains of 
north-central IMontana, where I used often to shoot them. West of the continental 
divide it is a much rarer bird, but it everywhere overlaps the range of the Cinnamon 
Teal, both during the breeding season and during migration. In the upper Rio 
Grande Valley, New Mexico, the Blue-wings in autumn number only 1% to 4% of 
all ducks (Leopold, 1919). Farther west the species becomes very much rarer, and 
in California it has never been anything more than a straggler, mixed with flocks of 
Green-wings. 
Although no accurate statistics as to its breeding status in Ohio, Indiana, Michi- 
gan and Illinois are available, all writers are agreed that there has been a very marked 
decrease since the settlement of the country. In [Michigan it was classed as the most 
abundant duck in summer, and formerly a common breeder, though now it nests 
only to a limited extent (Barrows, 1912). In Wisconsin the situation is very much 
the same. In 1903, Kumlien and Hollister spoke of a diminution in numbers perhaps 
greater than in any other species. About 1870, they say, it w'as an extremely abun- 
dant nester in southern Wisconsin, but the numbers breeding there in 1903 were a 
mere fraction of the former total. 
West of the [Mississippi, in [Missouri and Kansas, the species, like others, has been 
