BLUE- WINGED TEAL. 
97 
a dull brownish white, thickly speckled with dark brown ; 
breast and belly, pale brownish white, interspersed with white ; 
back, and root of the neck above, black, each feather elegantly 
waved with broad lines of brownish white, these wavings be- 
come rufous on the scapulars ; vent white, spotted with dark 
brown ; tail, dark brown, spotted with white ; the two middle 
tail-feathers half an inch longer than the others. 
The sprigtail is an elegantly formed, long bodied duck, the 
neck longer and more slender than most others. 
BLUE-WINGED TEAL ANAS DISCORS. 
Plate LXVIIL Fig. 4. 
Le Sarcelle d’Amerique, Sriss. vi. p. 452, 35. — Buff. ix. p. 279. PL Enl. 966. 
— C'a^es&^/, i. pi. 100. — White-faced duck, Lath, Syn. iii. p. 602. — Arct. Zool. 
No. 503. — Peale’s Museum, No. 2846. 
BOSCHAS ? DIS CO ES. —SwAmsoN. 
Anas discors, Cuv. Regn. Anim. i. p. 539— ^Bonap. Synop. p. 385. — Anas (boschas) 
discors. Swain. Journ. Royal Instit. No. iv. p. 22. — North, Zool. ii. p. 444. 
The blue-winged teal is the first of its tribe that returns to 
us in the autumn from its breeding place in the north. They 
are usually seen early in September, along the shores of the 
Delaware, where they sit on the mud close to the edge of the 
water, so crowded together that the gunners often kill great 
numbers at a single discharge. When a flock is discovered 
thus sitting and sunning themselves, the experienced gunner 
runs his batteau ashore at some distance below or above them, 
and, getting out, pushes her before him over the slippery mud, 
concealing himself all the while behind her ; by this method 
he can sometimes approach within twenty yards of the flock, 
among which he generally makes great slaughter. They fly 
rapidly, and, when they alight, drop down suddenly, like the 
snipe or woodcock, among the reeds or on the mud. They 
feed chiefly on vegetable food, and are eagerly fond of the 
VOL. Ill, G 
