THE COMMON TEAL 
on the banks. ‘This is sought for by day and by night in 
localities where it is not molested, but in some places 
where persecution teaches it wariness it feeds during 
darkness alone. It will then be found to pass the day on 
large, open sheets of water well out from shore, retiring at 
dusk to the smaller pools and marshes to feed, passing 
certain routes with much regularity. It searches for 
food in much the same manner as the Mallard, and its 
diet is almost as varied. Its alarm-note is a low quack, 
and the call-note a harsh cr-r-rik. It breeds in May, on 
the margin of some marshy pond, and probably pairs for 
life. ‘The nest is made on the ground, sheltered by 
brambles, or concealed amongst heath, sedges, and coarse 
grass, and is made of dry grass and scraps of withered 
herbage, warmly lined with down from the duck’s body. 
The eggs are eight or ten, creamy white or buffish white, 
sometimes with a greenish tinge. 
The Teal is so well known that a long description may 
be dispensed with. I may, however, give the diagnostic 
characters which will enable the student to identify this 
species in any plumage. ‘The bill is shorter than the head, 
and does not taper towards the tip ; there is no fringe of 
soft membrane near the tip of the apical portion ; the 
central tail-feathers are acuminate, and extend slightly 
beyond the outer ones; whilst the scapulars and tertials 
are longer than in a Widgeon. The head is partly 
metallic green, the top of the head chestnut, like the 
cheeks ; the lower scapulars are white, edged with white 
on the outer web (male) ; the alar speculum is black, and 
the wing under 7 inches in length (female). Length 
144 inches. 
