The food of the blue-wing is chiefly vegetable matter, and its flesh is
tender and excellent. It may be known by its small size, blue wings,
and narrow bill.
Mr. Fred Mather, for many years superintendent of the State Fish
Hatchery of Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, domesticated the
mallard and black duck, bred wood ducks, green and blue-winged teal,
pin-tails, and other wild fowl. He made a distinction between breeding
and domestication. He does not believe that blue-winged teal can be
domesticated as the mallard and black duck can, _i. e._, to be allowed
their liberty to go and come like domestic ducks.
The hind toe of this family of ducks is without a flap or lobe, and the
front of the foot is furnished with transverse scales, which are the
two features of these birds which have led scientists to separate them
into a distinct sub-family. They do not dive for their food, but nibble
at the aquatic plants they live among; or, with head immersed and
tail in air, "probe the bottom of shallow waters for small mollusks,
crustaceans, and roots of plants." The bill acts as a sieve.