BLUE-WINGED TEAL.
Anas discors, Linn.
PLATE CCCXIII. Male and Female.
Is it not strange, Reader, that birds which are known to be abundant on the Saskatchewan River during the breeding season, and which have been observed as far north as the 57th parallel, should also be found breeding at nearly the same period in Texas? Stranger still it is that species should proceed from certain points, or winter quarters, to both of the above-mentioned regions, without paying any regard to the intermediate districts, which yet seem to be as well adapted for breeding in, as they afford thousands of convenient and secluded localities for that purpose. Yet these facts, and many others connected with Nature’s wonderful arrangements, we may look upon as intended to increase the innate desire which every true lover of Nature has to study her beautiful and marvellous works.
Having for some years observed such habits exhibited by the Blue-winged Teal and other birds, I have been induced to believe in the existence of what I would term a double sense of migration in many species, acted upon both in spring and in autumn, and giving to them at the latter period, the power as well as the desire of removing from the higher latitudes to opposite or meridional parts, thus to enter into the formation of the Fauna of different countries, from which again they are instigated to return to the place of their nativity, and thence diverge toward new sections of the globe equally adapted to their wants. If these observations should prove not unfounded, we need no longer be surprised to meet in different portions of the world with species which hitherto were supposed to be inhabitants only of far distant shores.
The mouths of the Mississippi, surrounded by extensive flat marshes, which are muddy, and in some degree periodically inundated by the overflowings of that great stream, or by the tides of the Mexican Gulf, and having in the winter months a mildness of temperature favourable to almost all our species of Waders and Swimmers, may be looked upon as the great rendezvous of the Blue-winged Teals, which are seen arriving there coastways, in autumn and the greater part of winter, to meet the multitudes that have travelled across the interior from the north and west. At New Orleans, and during spring, when this bird is in full plumage, it is called by the Creoles of Louisiana “Sarcelle Printanniere;” and in autumn, when scarcely an individual can be seen retaining the beauty of its spring plumage, it is known as the “Sarcelle Automniere;” in consequence of which double appellation, many persons imagine that there are two Blue-winged Teals.
They are the first ducks that arrive in that part of the country, frequently making their appearance in the beginning of September, in large flocks, when they are exceedingly fat. They depart, however, when the cold becomes so intense as to form ice; and in this respect they differ from the Green-winged Teals, which brave the coldest weather of that country. Toward the end of February, however, they are as abundant as ever, but they are then poor, although their plumage is perfected, and the males are very beautiful. During their stay, they are seen on bayous and ponds, along the banks of the Mississippi, and on the large and muddy sand-bars around, feeding on grasses and their seeds, particularly in autumn, when they are very fond of the wild pimento. Many remain as late as the 15th of May, in company with the Shoveller and Gadwall Ducks, with which they are usually fond of associating.
On my reaching the south-western pass of the Mississippi, on the 1st April 1837, I found these birds very abundant there, in full plumage, and in flocks of various sizes. On the 11th of the same month, when about an hundred miles to the westward, we saw large and dense flocks flying in the same direction. On the 15th, at Derniere Isle, the Blue-wings were very plentiful and gentle. Two days after, they were quite as numerous round Rabbit Island, in the Bay called Cote Blanche; and on the 26th they were found on all the ponds and salt bayous or inlets of Galveston Island in Texas, as well as on the water-courses of the interior, where I was assured that they bred in great numbers. Though on account of the nature of the localities in which these Teals breed, and which cannot be explored otherwise than in extremely light canoes, or by risking being engulphed in oozy morasses covered with tall grass, we were not so fortunate as to find any of their nests, we could easily judge by their manœuvres both while on wing and on the water, that we were not far from their well-concealed treasures and the females which we procured unequivocally exhibited the state of exhaustion common in the course of incubation.
During the months of September and October, this species is plentiful on the Ohio, and in the whole of the Western Country, through which they pass again in April, but without tarrying. On the other hand, they seem to prolong their stay at this season in our Eastern Districts more than in autumn; and this is also the case in South Carolina, as I learn from the observations of my friend John Bachman, who has seen them mated there as early as February. I have found them in the Boston markets on the 8th of September, but it is very rare to see any of them there in full spring dress. I saw or heard of none when I was in Labrador and Newfoundland; from which it may be inferred that those found in the Fur Countries reach them through the interior. They also occur on the Columbia River. On the 21st of March 1821, I saw many Blue-winged Teals copulating on the Mississippi, a little below Natchez; yet none of these birds have been known to breed in that section of the country. They were at the time mentioned on a sand-bar in company with some American Widgeons, which also were similarly employed.
The flight of the Blue-winged Teal is extremely rapid and well sustained. Indeed, I have thought that, when travelling, it passes through the air with a speed equal to that of the Passenger Pigeon. When flying in flocks in clear sunny weather, the blue of their wings glistens like polished steel, so as to give them the most lively appearance; and while they are wheeling 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 passing 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.