240 AMERICAN GAME. 
of filling his boat with these delicious ducks within a few 
hours’ shooting. Both of these species are rather tame 
than otherwise, the blue-winged bird more particularly 
which has a habit, on the lower waters of the Delaware 
especially, of congregating on the mud in vast flocks, 
sunning themselves in the serene and golden light of a 
September noon, so careless and easy of approach, that 
the gunner is frequently enabled to paddle his skiff 
within a few yards of them, and to rake them with close 
discharges of his heavy batteries. At times, when the 
tide is out, and the birds are assembled on the flats out 
of gunshot from the water’s edge, the thorough-going 
sportsman, reckless of wet feet or muddy breeches, will 
run his skiff ashore, several hundred yards above or 
below the flock, and getting cautiously overboard, will 
push it before him over the smooth, slippery mud-fats, 
keeping himself carefully concealed under its stern until 
within gunshot, which he can sometimes reduce to so 
little as fifteen or twenty yards, by this murderous and 
stealthy method. The Green-Winged Teal is much. less 
apt to congregate, especially on shore, than the other, 
and consequently affords less sport to the boat-shooter, 
keeping for the most part afloat in little companies, or 
trips, as they are technically called, very much on the 
alert, and springing rapidly on the wing when disturbed. 
They, and the Blue-Wings also, fly very rapidly, dodging 
occasionally on the wing, not unlike to a wild, sharp- 
flying Woodcock, and when they alight, darting down- 
