numbers constantly recruited through the winter months, by
additional arrivals from the northern parts of Europe, and
our markets in consequence obtain a regular supply from the
various decoys and other: modes of capture. Although numbers
in spring return again to more northern localities, to.
breed, many remain in this country and pass the summer
near fresh-water lakes. That some ofv these breed here, also,
in suitable localities, is proved by the fact; that in the summer
of 1817, Mr. Youell, of Yarmouth, had four young birds of
the Teal brought to him, which were hatched- at Reedham
in Norfolk. The-authors of the Catalogue of Norfolk and
Suffolk Birds say also, that very small ones haye been observed
in company with their parents upon Ran worthBroad,.
by Mr. Keöisón of that place; and; that they breed also: on
Scoulton Merel The Rev. Richard Lubbock, of Norfolk,
in his note to me on this- species, says, “ the T^eal must/ in
some years, either breed abundantly with jus, or migrate .hither
very early; I have known sixty or seventy.-Teal cornerdn
small parties to the same plash of water at sundown; by the
first week in August” The Teathear confinement well, and
at the Gardens of the Zoological Society^;though,-restricted
to a very small pond with a margin of thick and high grass,
with some low shrubs, havejbred regularly for* the?« last five
seasons. The eggs are..white tinged with; buff, measuring
one inch nine lines in length, .by one inch four lines in
breadth. . The food of the Teal consists of seeds, grasses,
water plants, and insects in their various states^. In confine-
ment they require grain. Some Teal breed about the lakes
of Wales, and a few in Romnej Marsh. Mr. Selby, who
has paid attention to the habits of this species in Northumberland,
says, “ our indigenous broods, I am inclined to
think, seldom quit the immediate neighbourhood of the place
in which they were bred, as I have repeatedly observed thém
to haunt the same district from the time of their hatching till
they separated and paired, on the approach of the following
spring. The Teal breeds in; the long rushy herbage about
the edges of lakes, or in the boggy parts of the upland moors.
Its -: nest'if formed of a large mass of decayed vegetable matter,
with a lining of down and feathers, upon which eight or
ten eggs rest.” Dr. Heysham, in his Catalogue of Cumberland
Animals, says, that a few Teal certainly breed in the
mosses of that county every year.
In Ireland the Teal is found in great' numbers throughout
tile-winter, and a few are resident there all the year. Sir
Robert Sibfrald, and other authorities since his time, notice
the. Teal as inhabiting the edges of the Scottish lakes; Mr.
Dunn, however, says that it is not numerous either in Orkney
-or Shetland, although the most so in winter; but that a few
pairs occasionally^ remain during summer and breed. They
prefer the : inland lakes; to the sea-shore. Richard Dann,
Esq. ien t me. word that this beautiful little Duck is widely
and numerorfely dispersed over the whole of Norway and
Sweden, but is most plentiful in the north during the breed-
ingnseason. I t breeds all over Lapland, both western and
eastern, and is Very abundant in the Dofre Fiell, within the
range of the birch trees. The eggs vary in number from ten
to fifteen. I t breeds also in the cultivated districts in all
the mosses and bogs. Mr. Proctor says the Teal is pretty
common in Iceland. ' Eastward of Scandinavia it is found
in Russia, and is abundant in Germany, Holland, France,
Spain, and Ita ly ; visits North Africa in winter, and has been
•noticed at Smyrna and Trebizond. The Teal was found in
the vicinity of the Caucasian range, by Russian naturalists,
and is included in catalogues of the birds of various parts of
India, China, and Japan. The Teal of North America is
distinct from the Teal of Europe and Asia.
In the adult male Teal the beak is nearly black; the irides
hazel; forehead, and a narrow band over the top of the head,