BLUE-WINGED TEAL. 
205 
The female has the head slightly crested ,* crown, dark 
purple ; behind the eye, a bar of white ; chin and throat, 
for two inches, also white ; head and neck, dark drab ; 
breast, dusky brown, marked with large triangular spots 
of white ; back, dark glossy bronze brown, with some 
gold and greenish reflections. Speculum of the wings 
nearly the same as in the male, but the fine penciling 
of the sides, and the long hair-like tail-coverts, are 
wanting ,* the tail is also shorter. 
265 . ANAS DISCORS , LINNiEUS AND WILSON. 
BLUE- WINGED TEAL. 
WILSON, PLATE LXVIII. FIG. IV. — EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM. 
The blue- winged teal is the first of its tribe that 
returns to us in the autumn from its breeding place tn 
the north. They are usually seen early in September, 
along the shores of the Delaware, where they sit on tke 
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 seeds of the 
reeds or wild oats. Their flesh is excellent, and, after 
their residence for a short time among the reeds, 
becomes very fat. As the first frosts come on, they 
proceed to the south, being a delicate bird, very suscep- 
tible of cold. They abound in the inundated rice fields 
in the Southern States, where vast numbers are taken 
in traps placed on small dry eminences that here and 
there rise above the water. These places are strewed 
