290 BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 



over the places in which they intend to alight, their wings being alternately 

 thrown in the shade and exposed to the bright light, the glowing and varied 

 lustre thus produced, at whatever distance they may be, draws your eyes 

 involuntarily towards them. When advancing against a stiff breeze, they 

 alternately shew their upper and lower surfaces, and you are struck by the 

 vivid steel-blue of their mantle, which resembles the dancing light of a piece 

 of glass suddenly reflected on a distant object. During their flight, they 

 almost constantly emit their soft lisping note, which they also utter when 

 alighted and under apprehension of danger. I have never observed them 

 travelling in company with other Ducks, but have seen them at times pass- 

 ing over the sea at a considerable distance from land. Before alighting, and 

 almost under any circumstances, and in any locality, these Teals pass and 

 repass several times over the place, as if to assure themselves of the absence 

 of danger, or, should there be cause of apprehension, to watch until it is 

 over. They swim buoyantly, and generally in a close body, at times nearly 

 touching each other. Indeed, during their first appearance in autumn, when 

 you are apt to meet with a flock entirely composed of young birds, you may, 

 by using a little care, kill a considerable number at one shot. I was assured 

 by a gunner residing at New Orleans, that as many as one hundred and 

 twenty had been killed by himself at a single discharge; and I myself saw a 

 friend of mine kill eighty-four by pulling together the triggers of his double- 

 barrelled gun! 



The Blue-winged Teal is easily kept in captivity, and soon becomes very 

 docile. In this state it feeds freely on coarse corn meal, and I have no doubt 

 that it could readily be domesticated, in which case, so tender and savoury 

 is its flesh that it would quickly put the merits of the widely celebrated 

 Canvass-backed Duck in the shade. 



In the course of my stay in East Florida, at General Hernandez's, and 

 Mr. Bulow's, I have observed this Teal in company with the Red-breasted 

 Snipe, the Tell-tale Godwit, and the Yellow-shank Snipe. I observed the 

 same circumstance in Texas. 



During the time of their residence on the Delaware river, they feed prin- 

 cipally on the seeds of the wild oats, which I also found them to do whilst 

 at Green Bay. I have been assured by persons residing on the island of 

 Cuba, that the Blue-winged Teal is abundant, and breeds there. 



The old males lose the spring plumage of the head almost entirely during 

 a great portion of the autumn and winter, but it is reassumed sometimes as 

 early as the beginning of January. The young of both sexes in their first 

 plumage resemble the females, but the males acquire their full beauty before 

 they are a year old. 



