THE COMMON TEAL, 233 
the inhabitants of Iceland, Lapland, and the coasts of the North 
Sea invariably secure them. The harvest which is derived from 
these birds is their principal source of revenue, eider-down being 
a valuable article of commerce. In inhabited countries the rocks 
where the Eider Ducks lay their eggs are private property, and are 
handed down in families just as if they were the most valuable 
possessions. 
THE CoMMoN TEAL (Anas crecca), 
This (Fig. 88) is the smallest of the Duck kind known in the 
British Isles. It is a remarkably beautiful bird, and in colouring as 
Fig. 88,—Lhe Common Teal. 
well as in form closely resembles the Mallard, but is much smaller. 
It frequents marshy places and the margins of lakes and rivers, 
seldom betaking itself to estuaries or the sea-coast until frost sets in. 
It walks with ease, swims with great dexterity, flies rapidly, and is 
in all respects remarkable for its activity. It rises from the water 
or the land at once, and shoots away with great rapidity, so that the 
marksman who would bring it down must be very expert with his 
gun. It breeds in the long reedy grasses on the margin of lakes, or 
on upland moors and marshes, Its nest is a mass of decayed 
vegetable matter lined with down and feathers, in which it lays 
ten or twelve eggs about an inch and three-quarters in length and 
an inch and a quarter in breadth. North of the Tay they are 
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