COMMON TEAL. 233 



(a fact which will doubtless be found to apply to the 

 Anatidai in general). The nest is made upon the 

 ground, under brambles or amongst heath, sedge, and 

 coarse grass, either growing by the water-side, or less 

 frequently at some considerable distance from the pool 

 in a wooded swamp. I always think a Teal's nest is a 

 charming little structure, made as it is of dry grass, bits 

 of fern-frond, broken sedges and reeds, and lined warmly 

 with the down from the female's body. The female is 

 a close sitter, but not demonstrative when flushed from 

 the nest. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Common Teal are from eight to ten in 

 number ; in rare cases as many as fifteen. They vary 

 from creamy-white to buffish-white in colour, sometimes 

 with a faint greenish tinge. Average measurement, 17 

 inch in length, by v^ inch in breadth. Incubation, 

 performed by the female, lasts from twenty-one to 

 twenty-two days. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of the Teal 

 cannot be distinguished with certainty from those of the 

 Garganey, but fortunately the down in the nest is a sure 

 guide to their identity, the tufts being small and uniform 

 dark-brown without any pale tips. From the eggs of 

 all other Ducks breeding in our area the eggs of the 

 present species may be at once distinguished by their 

 small size. 



