288 DUCK GROUP 



March. To the British Islands gadwall are chiefly winter - visitors, 

 and are entirely so in Ireland and Scotland, although in certain parts 

 of Norfolk, where they receive adequate protection, they breed in 

 considerable numbers. 



From 2 lbs. to about 2 lbs. 6 ozs. is the usual weight of a full- 

 grown gadwall, of which the total length is 22 inches. The species is 

 one of those in which the drake reverts to the duller plumage after 

 the breeding-season for a short period. When in breeding-dress, the 

 gadwall is specially characterised b}- the chestnut wing-coverts and 

 white wing-patch ; the head and neck being brown flecked and spotted 

 with black, the back and flanks marked with coarse, wavy lines of black 

 and white, the feathers of the upper part of the breast variegated with 

 closely arranged alternating crescents of the same, and the rest of the 

 breast and under-parts white. When " in eclipse " the drake is dis- 

 tinguishable from the duck by the darker colour of the beak and the 

 chestnut wing-coverts. As regards the duck, the general colour of the 

 upper-parts is brown, barred and freckled with sandy buff; but the 

 most distinctive feature is her white wing-patch. In both sexes the 

 legs and feet are dusky orange and the beak is blackish. Dark brown 

 is the prevalent colouring of the duckling, which is specially character- 

 ised by the presence of a broad white stripe above the eye, and of a 

 dark stripe running backwards from the root of the beak to the eye 

 and thence along the side of the head. 



As regards their call-note and their food, gadwalls are very similar 

 to mallards ; but on the wing they travel with still greater speed. Their 

 flesh is of very inferior quality, and at times not even fit for table. 

 The nest, which, as already mentioned, is seldom seen in England, 

 consists of a slight hollow in the ground, sparsely lined with dry grass, 

 sedge, or rush, and occasionally leaves ; the whole being well concealed 

 amid a tussock of rank marsh-grass or in a bed of rushes. From 

 bufifish to creamy white is the colour of the eggs, which range in 

 number from eight to a dozen, and measure severally between 2 and 

 2^ inches in their longer diameter. 



Described in many works under the name of 

 TeaWNettium j • ..u a- ./• 



Uiicrqucdula crecca, and m others as JSettion crecca, 

 cr6cca). -^ 1 • 



the teal is the smallest of the Ikitish ducks, 



measuring only from 14 to 15 inches in length, and with a weight of 



not more than from 12 to 14 ozs. What it lacks in size it makes up, 



however, in beauty and in the excellence of its flesh ; although to 



fully appreciate the latter point requires a sojourn in India, where these 



