234 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
found occasionally all the year round, returning, according to Mr. 
St. John, year after year to breed, if left undisturbed in the process 
of incubation. 
“If we compare,” says Mr. McGillivray, “the Common Teal 
(Anas crecca), with the Garganey (Azas circta), the Gadwall (Anas 
strepera) and the Pintail Duck (Amas acuta), we find slight differ- 
ences in the form of the bill, in the elongated lamella of the upper 
mandible, in the length of the neck and tail; but they are all so 
intimately connected that, unless each species can be converted into 
a genus, there can be no reason for separating them.” He classes 
them accordingly under the general name of Teal. 
This bird makes its appearance in France in spring and autumn. 
It breeds in all the temperate climates of Europe, and pushes on 
towards the south as the winter advances. 
According to Columella, in his work “De Re Rustica,” the 
Romans succeeded in domesticating the Teal; but the bird has 
reverted to an entirely wild state, which is much to be regretted, for 
it would have formed a valuable addition to the poultry-yard, the 
flesh of the Teal being held in great estimation. 
The group of Ducks usually denominated Teal, Mr. Swainson has 
formed into the sub-genus Boschas, in which he also includes the 
Mallard or Wild Duck. ‘‘As this is the most numerous group,” 
says this writer, ‘so it exhibits a greater diversity of form among the 
species. They are all, however, characterised by a bill longer than the 
head, the breadth of which is equal throughout, sometimes indeed a 
little dilated, but never contracted at the tip, while the laminz of the 
upper mandible are entirely concealed by the margin of the bill.” 
“The beautiful Anas formosa, which is essentially a Teal, differs,” 
Says a writer in the ‘‘ Penny Cyclopedia,” “in the greater length of 
the tail, thus connecting it more closely with the Pintail and other 
long-tailed species ; while the bill, which is depressed in form in the 
Mallard as well as in the Domestic Duck, is convex, with projecting 
lamin, in the teal. Such is the case with the blue-winged Teal of 
North America, in which the laminz of the upper bill project nearly 
as much as in the Gadwall, while the upper mandible exhibits that 
sinuosity at the base which is seen in no other Duck except the 
Shoveller.” 
Mr. Selby says of the common Teal :—“TI am inclined to think 
that our indigenous breeds seldom quit the immediate neighbourhood 
of the places in which they are bred, as I have repeatedly observed 
them to haunt the same district from the time of their being hatched 
till they separated and paired on the approach of the following 
