THE GREEN-WINGED TEAL 301 
England gunner, and in addition to these the 
family is worthily represented westward of the 
backbone of our continent by the Cinnamon, or 
Red-breasted Teal, formerly considered a strag- 
gler from South America, but now well estab- 
lished among our own birds. Rarely the Euro- 
pean Teal is taken in our eastern waters. All 
have the same traits in common, decoying well, 
flying at great speed in compact flocks, close to 
the water. Surface feeders, fastidious in their 
choice of food, living on the wild grains and 
seeds of the marshes and the menu of the fresh 
water ponds, their flesh is second to none of 
the family in tenderness and good flavor. 
The Teals are said to breed readily and thrive 
well in captivity. If this is so, surely their 
beauty should at once find them a place with 
the breeders of fancy fowl. The Green-winged 
Teal is the hardier of the two eastern species, 
staying in this latitude considerably later than 
does the Blue-winged, being found here as late 
as November, while the other rarely stays with 
us later than the first of October unless the sea- 
son is unusually warm. As a rule the cream 
of the shooting on Blue-winged Teal is over. by 
the middle of September. 
