BRITAIN^S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 137 



England, and in Ireland, especially towards the south-west. 

 One was got as far north as Inverness, however. One that 

 was found in Ireland exceptionally early in the following 

 autumn is under suspicion of having passed the summer 

 there for some reason. Others marked at the same place 

 have been got in Holland, and many in the west of France. 

 We have yet to learn what routes the birds follow. Do 

 the British-wintering Teal come via Holland to the south- 

 east of England? Or do these birds cross the North 

 Sea direct, while only the French ones pass through the 

 Netherlands? Or do the French birds pass through the 

 British Isles ? Single records of Danish-marked Teal from 

 Spain and the north of Italy open up fresh possibilities. 

 A solitary April record from eastern Sweden is so far the 

 only indication of the summer-quarters of these migrants. 

 In winter, in this country and abroad. Teals are shot for 

 sport to a great extent. They are wary and rise quickly, 

 and the flight is very rapid. Their food consists to a 

 great extent of vegetable matter, and the flesh is there- 

 fore very palatable. Large numbers of Teals are also taken 

 in decoys or otherwise procured for the market. The 

 extent of the slaughter may be partly realised when we 

 say that the extraordinarily large proportion of nearly 

 twenty-five per cent, of the Danish-marked birds were 

 killed or captui-ed, for the most part within the six 

 months following marking. This figure, of course, does not 

 allow for any that perished unrecorded. With one or two 

 exceptions, all records are for the winter months — the 

 months of shooting. And yet the Teal as a species is in 

 a flourishing enough state, and its numbers are fairly well 

 maintained. Protection during the nesting season amply 

 compensates for the winter shooting as regards home-bred 

 birds, and for those nesting in more northern lands, 

 where no protection against human beings is necessary, 



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