EUROPEAN TEAL. 53 



Mr. Burnett of Kemnay, in a series of notes -with -svhieli 

 he has favoured me, states that " in winter it forms large 

 flocks, the Drakes then having a whistle like that of the 

 Plover. It breeds rather later than the Mallard in our 

 marshes. I found a nest with sucked eggs in a wood. The 

 eggs are not larger than those of a Wood Pigeon, but other- 

 wise resemble those of the Mallard, only they have more of 

 the yellow, and are without spots, although Bewick states 

 the contrary. I have often met with the young. In a small 

 lake not far from Banchory, I saw the parent floating on the 

 water, with her eight young ones swimming in a line behind. 

 The young are considerably darker than those of the Mallard, 

 with less yelloAv. One caught I describe thus : — Covered 

 with down of a dark olive, approaching to black, each hair 

 tipped with dusky. Under parts dull yellowish, brightest on 

 the sides of the head, which are marked with longitudinal 

 dusky lines. Bill black, tipped a little way up with brow^n- 

 ish. Legs and feet black. They squeak like young Duck- 

 lings. The attachment of the old birds to their young, if 

 possible even exceeds that of the Mallard. On my picking 

 up two large but unfledged young ones, below Echt, the 

 parent came within a few feet of me, lying down, beating her 

 wings, and uttering her small shrill quack. I never heard 

 the male whistle during the breeding season. The Teals 

 feed much on the farinaceous seeds of a common kind of 

 carex." 



Mr. St. John, the most interesting and intelligent of our 

 popular writers on natural objects, says : — " The Teal can 

 scarcely be called a Avinter bird Avith us, although occasionally 

 a pair or two appear ; but in the spring they come in numbers 

 to breed and rear their tiny young in the swamps and lochs. 

 Nothing can exceed the beauty and neatness of this miniature 

 Duck. They fly with great swiftness, rising suddenly into 

 the air when disturbed, and dropping as quickly after a 

 short flight, much in the same manner as a Snipe. In the 

 spring the Drake has a peculiar whistle, at other times their 

 note is a low quack. A pair of Teal, if undistm-bed, Avill 

 return year after year to the same pool for the purpose of 

 breeding. Like the Wild Duck, they sometimes hatch their 



