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SPLENDID GREENWINGED TEAL Smallest of Western American Buck Is Fast and Furnishes Fine Sport The little greenwinged or rendhcndcd teal is our smallest waterfowl but it is a splendid bird An acquaintance once expressed the opinion of a mutual friend of rather small stature that he was a man of few inches but every inch a man the same may be said of the little greenwing thafit is a duck of few ounces but every ounce a duck duckIt It is a typical freshwater duck being at home either in the timber or on the prairie so long as its favorite mud banks or flats can be found and can navigate quite well on the land often taking walks of considerable distances acrosscountry and frequently using sandbars and similar places as lounging grounds after feeding feedingThe The greenwing is a hearty eater and feeds on a variety of food including teal moss wild rice wild rye wild oat grass water plain tain water pepper water smartwted blue flag water lilies duckweed pondweed the different grains minnows fish spawn snails frogs pplliwoijs and worms On account of the large proportion of animal food it is not nearly as good a table bird as the blue wing although its flesh is by no means coarse but it often has the sedgy taste imparted to birds by animal food foodIt It is an extremely hardy bird its annual pilgrim ¬ ages taking it to the far north and beginning as soon as the water appears in the spring following closely upon the northern migrations of those pioneers of the frostline the mallards and pintails while the last greenwings of the fall often hang about the northern feeding grounds until the final freezeup P M Silloway in his list of birds of Fergus County Montana near the center of the state reports this bird being shot near Deerfield as late as Decemltfr u 1902 after severe cold weather and says It appears that some of these birds remain with us through the winter winterIts Its nesting range is about as extensive as that of the widgeon for while it does not breqd quite as far south it broods considerably farther north The nest is large for the size of the bird loosely built of grasses and lined with feathers placed in the thick grass reeds or rushes at the edge of water and sometimes a considerable distance from water Eggs five to eight eightBIRDS BIRDS FAVOR IAKES ANB SLOUGHS SLOUGHSIn In flights to and from the feeding grounds the greenwing flics in small flocks and bunches but migrates in large flocks It has three distinct mi ¬ gratory flight lines along each coast and through the Mississippi and Missouri valleys In the interior the migrations are more or less irregular being influenced by the water supply as when there is plenty of water the birds often leave the valleys and spread over the chain of lakes and sloughs but both northern and southern migrations are invariably made in three flights The first issue in the spring closely follows the early mallards and pin ¬ tails as fast as water shows the second quickly follows and the third passes more leisurely par ¬ ticularly if the water is high and there are plenty of overflowed bunks and mudflats of which the bird is fond The birds of the last issue breed the farthest south and are the first to go south in the fall The first and second issues of the fall migra ¬ tion flight stop to fed en route where they find suitable grounds but the third hurries through just before the freezeup There are many excellent teal shooting grounds both north and south but the mudflats and marshes adjacent to Puget Sound Washington and along the Columbia Itiver have furnished probably as good sport as any localities as they offer just the kind of grounds the greenrwing prefers and large bags have been made there in river marsh and bar shooting shootingThey They are shot by jumping along the streams over decoys in marshes and on bars and on passes They are tame birds and when jumping along the crooked streams when a boat may by keeping close to the bank come suddenly nipon the birds in rounding the curves is easy shooting if you bear in mind that the little birds leave the water quickly and remem ¬ ber to hold sufficiently above them as they jump While it may not result in as large bags as shooting over decoys or on passes there is1 a charming un ¬ certainty in not knowing at what bend or curve a flock will jump and the sport is exhilarating In such shooting particularly where there is any current one should paddle while another shoots and where a boatman is not employed but two take turns at the paddle and gun a friendly rivalry is engendered which if you are about even shots is not the least interesting part of the shooting shootingGREEN GREEN WINGS ARE ELUSIVE MARKS MARKSShooting Shooting these birds over decoys is excellent sport and gives as great a variety of shots as any duck shooting as some of the flocks will circle in the regulation manner this is not the rule however while a majority will dash in at all angles from all elevations and at all rates of speed There is no fanning or shortcircling as when the incomers decide to alight near the decoys they simply slant down and hit the water often alighting and swimming directly to the decoys and about and among them for some mpments before discovering the deception and taking wing So suddenly do they come in that low flying birds will often iillght be ¬ fore you are aware they are coming or can turn the gun in their direction but when they leave do not lose any time in shooting and hold above as they appear to actually spring from the water In this shooting concealment is less important than in most blindshooting I have frequently shot teal while standing in a boat in almost plain view and without the least effort at concealment So long as they see the decoys they do not seem to see the man or seeing do not care Teal bunch more on the water than other ducks and consequently the de ¬ coys should be placed closer but care in placing decoys is less important in this shooting than any other decoy shooting I know of They are also great bimchers on the wing in circling into decoys in leaving the water and in rising after the first barrel but no matter how closely they bunch or line up be careful in shooting to select your bird as even with closely bunched teal there is a sur ¬ prising amount of room for an ounce of shot to pass between the birds If you get the bird you hold for congratulate yourself and if incidentally three or four fall why they are legitimately yours I have seen nine teal dropped from a bunching flock with both barrels The teal is easily killed Frightened to death I have heard it termed and in spile of their small size they are easily retrieved retrievedIasxshooting Iasxshooting teal is certainly a leading sport and car in mind that you are playing a leading pirt in it and see that you do lead The green wiugs often fly in lines or strings and if you are missing On a pass and one of these strings pass hold a yarii ahead of the first bird Probably you will get the third or fourth Take the lesson to heart and apply it to following birds To hold far enough ahead of the birds is really the only diffi ¬ cult plrt of passshooting as the birds are anything but wary and usually fly low lowAs As a gun must bo handled quickly and there is usually plenty of shooting often a surprising amount for the number of birds bagged a light gun should be used Light loads will also usually do the work and X0 g shot is large enough II II Parkhouse in National Sportsman
