TEAL 105 
the two adults and eight young birds—all strong on the 
wing—completely wiped out in a couple of hours by a 
gunner who followed them up and shot them one by one. 
The birds when first discovered, were feeding together on 
a marsh, but as they rose they scattered. Captain G. Gould 
estimates the speed of this bird on the wing to be one 
hundred and forty-four miles per hour. I have seen Teal 
swoop down from a height in the air to the water with 
as great an impetus as that acquired by a flock of Golden 
Plover when a shot is fired into their midst. 
Nest.—Though the nest is invariably placed on the 
eround, yet the breeding-haunts of the Teal vary consider- 
ably. 1 have found the nest under heath-tufts, on damp 
turfy soil, among high sedges and reeds by the river’s side, 
as well as in the stunted and scanty herbage of rough, low- 
lying pasture-land. In the co. Mayo, in the year 1898, I 
discovered a Teal breeding among heather near the summit 
of a hill, while fifty feet lower down a pair of Curlews were 
nesting on flat and somewhat damp ground. Dry grass is 
the chief material of which the nest 1s composed; when 
built in heath, stems of that plant are frequently utilised. 
The nest is lined with down. The eggs, ranging from 
eight to ten, and even more in the clutch, are of a rich 
creamy-white colour, some showing a tinge of pale bluish- 
green. Incubation begins about May. 
The Teal is easily tamed and breeds freely on aquatic 
preserves: hybrids frequently have been raised. 
This Duck nests throughout the British Isles; in the 
Outer Hebrides, where it hitherto has been looked upon as 
a yare species, it is now increasing, and no doubt breeds in 
North and South Uist (Harvie-Brown, ‘ Avifauna Of The 
Outer Hebrides,’ 1888-1902, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1902-3). 
Geographical distribution.—Abroad, this Duck is found 
nesting over a vast area of the European and Asiatic Con- 
tinents, also in North Africa. Its winter migrations extend 
to Tropical Africa and Asia. Our bird has occasionally 
wandered to the American coast, but its true representative 
is the next species, the American Green-winged eal, Nettion 
carolinense. 
DESCRIPTIYE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial.—Top of head, back of 
neck, cheeks, and throat, rich reddish-brown; behind the eye 
is a patch of glossy-green, which extends down the side of 
the neck for a short distance; above and below this patch 
