Teal.
A 6.
w’s Gun. Zool,, vol. xii. j
lev, Brclim. H.inclb. der b
The Tea'S ;*,■ of the Duck# iidwdHtHig the British Islands, and is wwwrh vdsn) fto tto imm
its plumage, ; delicate flavour o f its fiwfc- 1
mounted tti k the most contytwiufi part: of his museum, and the LporWHw»
leave his m Woodcock for the chance o f a shot, should a flight of TWi ■
bon ring m v - t-wclc over the moor.
Altho*# cawmopolitan, this pretty little 'Duck enjoys a very wide nm^v t
lu" ides to« :r.#r dispersed in oar islands, iii equally numerous in s i r iw istsitd
lying em m p , t* far as China and Kamtechlatka; northward it procntft* to «to m;
circle» to the vf-rge o f the equator ; iu a word, k is found in Silfatcs®., ¡flfl|jMHht %£?•(*•*
Mnjor, f $ | 3.i| India, as wed id Europe. 1ijj ad tliese countries its flesh is highly prowA, *ad eoi
que h sought tor as an article of food. 1It is plain, therefore, that if the Teal did ft -v «Stood
raiidfe to spiv peopled countries, and select a t o for the duty of incubation which are difficult detoCfc
it wpuld *xm the Heron nidify in the most conspicuous place*, and
cradles Sue !¡heir young are so prominently dopiayii'd that they may be seen from a great distance; the 1
rary, resorts to the most secluded *»trtsttions tor this purpose; and hence it is the bird ■
o abqndunt, and that such large mmifcers are annually sent to our markets during the sate
and wb-tei imonths. To what cause are we to (!,«_• delicate flavour o f the Teal ? It is most pro!,»;
due | to the nature of the food upon which it : this is neither fish nor any animal substai
that | can in:ipart .a strong or rancid flavour, as in the case of those species of the family whose lives
spenlt upon the seas—Scoters, Eiders, &c. No • the food the Teal consists o f the points o f the fii
grasses, the leaves o f water-plants, seeds, grab, «.:viv-..vsiKill fresh water mollusks, nud probably worms.
As autumn approaches, the rivers, rivulets, .;>j. the great ponds o f the woodlands and open moors
all more or less resorted to by the Teal in sm s S g £ eight or ten in number, or in flights of lift
morel. In these situations, the birds, if unmoki«ted, a'MD during the entire day on the surface of
wntuit rising and falling with every ripple, nr Mm* m «*» •» «'«'>“8 apprt.acl.es, they become
more I animated, and the whistling n i l of the « d r « Ward; anil when night begins to throw a veil over
the face of nature, thev simultaneous!.' rise, end geo >h* waters for the morass, the ploughed field, the ooay
miid-pauk, or wherever they may «MMa a .■■ food; at daylight they return to their usual sanctuary,
where they preen their feather., me) (W M b * «rim round each other in circles before settling to rest for
the 'kay;
T h k e latter remarks apply V ih bird « see» with m in « tw o » and winter, when it has partially or
wholly left the northern parts of , * M m * K* the M M temperate ones o f the south. As spring approaches,
most i f those that have escaped the gunner wM >' ■ devices of the decoy-man return again to the places of
their former resort, and there ¡neuter ... '■ 'tic,,... Some, however, stay and breed in many
of the « u n ties of England and Ireland. The ■ * w . is sometimes on the hill-side, in the neighbourhood
of a filter or loch, at others far awuy out on the heath . .... the moor, even to the distance o f many m.les, the
sligbi Lest being placed in the midst of the heather, f i t tussock o f era-,, or any other herbage that may
effectWtlly screen it from sight. A little rill o f water may perchance be close at hand, or a wet sloppy morass
or a puol not far off. to which the young, on their «ct.wion from the egg. are immediately conducted, and
wherl they are most assiduously uaarded by their parent# from
by which their lives may In endangered; hut tin- vnrurious pike, which often ah.des m such Mtoatmns,
not u [.frequently lessens their number. At S a r a * « Mere, in Norfolk (celebrated for one o f the largest
cohmiQ. o f Black-headed Gulls ... England I. several {Mr hnrd annually, and the proprietor, Mgor V, eyland,
afford them strict protectio... Their nests are uvmdty pUM in the shrubberies and plantation- wh.el.
' ''" t I I’eal,” w .s Mr. Lubbock, laken ever, y e * ■■ graat numbers in our decoys, in that at .... ...... .
,................ a.—. fe-etcs cattcht at once in a single pipe. AiUK»ueb it