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 crcccd). 



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. The 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 

 82* 



