^22 SWIMMERS. 



in all respects with the European species. Our variety is 

 abundant to the extremity of the continent, both in the woody 

 and barren districts of the remote fur countries of Hudson 

 Bay. It is also plentiful about Severn River, in the woods 

 and plains near fresh waters, where it breeds, the young being 

 about six or seven at a hatch. It feeds much upon fresh- 

 water insects, seeds, and aquatic plants, and when fat is deli- 

 cate food. In the autumn and winter it is very common 

 throughout the waters of the United States, both in the inte- 

 rior and contiguous to the sea-coast. In the course of the 

 winter it retires as far south as Jamaica, and is probably 

 common also along the coasts of the ^Mexican Gulf. It fre- 

 quents ponds, marshes, the reedy shores of creeks and rivers, 

 and in winter is very abundant in the rice-plantations of the 

 South. The birds usually fly in small parties, feeding mostly 

 by night, associating with the Mallard, and are commonly 

 decoyed by its call. 



The Teal is found in the North of Europe as far as Green- 

 land and Iceland, and it also inhabits the borders of the Cas- 

 pian to the south. In France and England it is said to breed. 

 It is commonly seen on the pools, in close companies of 

 ten or twelve together, frequenting the rivers and unfrozen 

 springs in winter, where it subsists on aquatic plants. It flies 

 very swiftly, and utters a sort of whistling cry. It breeds 

 in the fens, continuing in the temperate parts of Europe 

 the whole year. It conceals its nest among the bulrushes, 

 constructing it of their stalks and lining it with feathers ; it 

 rests also sometimes on the surface of the water, so as to rise 

 and fall with the flood. The female takes the whole manage- 

 ment of incubation ; the males at this time seeming to leave 

 them and associate by themselves in companies. The Amer- 

 ican Teals in the autumn, which visit this quarter, are also for 

 the most part young birds and females, the males pursuing a 

 different route apart from the rest, and are rarely seen here 

 until their return in the spring. 



The Green-winged Teal is abundant in Manitoba and the sur- 

 rounding region during the migrations, and numbers nest as far 



