T i: \ 



136 



T i 



White, in n U-tterJo the Hon. Daines Harrington, dated 

 Svlhorne, July 8, 1773, ay, 'Some young uu-n went down 

 lately to a pond on the verge of Wdmer Forest to hunt 

 flappers, or voting wild dock*, many of which they caught, 

 and, among the rest, some very minute, yet wtlMUdged 

 wild fowls alive, which, upon examination, I found to be 

 teals. 1 did not know till then llwt ITU! in the 



south of England, and was much pleased with the diseo- 

 this I look upon as a great stroke in natural history.' 



llut to return to Mr. Yarrell, who thus proceeds: 'In 

 Ireland the Teal is found in great numbers throughout the 

 winter, and a few are resident there all th< -.r Ro- 



Iwrt Sihbald, and other authorities sinre his time, notiee 

 the teal as inhabiting the edges of the Scottish lakes : Mr. 

 Dunn however says that it is not numerous either in Ork- 

 ney or Shetland, although the most so in winter ; luit that 

 a few pairs occasionally remain during summer and breed. 

 They prefer the inland lakes to the sea-shore. Kichard 

 Dunn. KMJ.. sent me word that this beautiful little duck is 

 widely and numerously dispersed over the whole of Nor- 

 way and Sweden, but Is most plentiful in the north during 

 the breeding season. It breeds all over Lapland, both 

 TII and eastern, and is very abundant in the Dofre 

 Kiell, within the range of the birch-trees. The eggs vary 

 in number from ten to fifteen. It breeds also in the cuf- 

 tivated districts in all the mosses and bogs. Mr. Proctor 

 says the Teal is pretty common in Iceland. Eastward of 

 Scandinavia it is found in Russia, and is abundant in Ger- 

 many, Holland, Kiance, Spain, and Italy ; visits .North 

 Africa in winter, and has been noticed "at Smyrna and 

 Trebizond. The Teal was found in the vicinity of the 

 Caucasian range, by Russian natural's)*, and is included 

 in catalogues of the birds of various parts of India, ( 'lima. 

 and Japan. The Teal of North America is distinct from 

 the Teal of Europe and Asia.' (liritixh fiirds.) 



Mr. Gould, in his great work, The Hirds of Europe,' 

 remarks that M. Temminck names Northern America ns 

 among the native localities of the Teal ; but Mr. Gould 

 says that he is inclined to dissent from this opinion, for 

 the American examples may always be distinguished by a 

 white crescent-shaped band on each side of the chest ni-ar 

 the shoulders. This, together with the absence of the 

 white tertial feather, will constitute, he thinks, fair grounds 

 for a genuine specific distinction. 



M. Temminck, in the fourth volume of his ' Manuel." 

 has himself corrected this error, acknowledging the differ- 

 ence, and referring to Dr. Richardson, ' Fauna Boreali- 

 Air.encana,' vol. ii., p. 443. 



The teal flies vigorously. Drayton, in the 'five and 

 twentieth song" of his ' Polyolbion,' alludes to this power. 

 After celebrating the Duck and Mallard, he continues: 



' An-l necre to Ihctn yo sec Ilir lrrr diMilin;,' 'IV il<% 

 In Ininrlirs,* with liu- first thit fly from men In marc, 

 At they above Uic reM were lord* of rarlli and >.' 



Commua Trml, Qiwrquolulm encai. 



Utility to Mm. ThU species is one of the most deli- 

 cate of the duck*. Willughby remarks, that for the taste 

 of its flesh, and the wholesome nourishment it affords the 



' the word in Falconry for company of TeUc.' 



body, it 'doth deservedly challenge the fust plate among 

 those of its kind.' 



In the ' Portraits d'< .tin- following qua- 



train celebrates its excellence and alludes to its habiU: 



' llifa frtl muvmt M- ploii^o | urrrllr 

 Bvlre deux raux. dc U'|iirU* U chair 

 Kt !> lie .! - niiwi 

 Autanl qu'oymti, <pi .it |,lii n>ramr clip.' 



ordingly we see it holding a high place in aniicnt 

 feasts. We find it among the goodly provision ' a! the 

 banquet given at the enthroning of G .ell. arch- 



bishop ol 'York, in the reign of Edward IV.: Mallaides 

 and Teales, 41KKJ.' The piice, in the Northumberland 

 HovwhoU Hook, is Tcylles, Id.,' mallards being :>/. 



In the provision for the marriage of Roger Kneklcy and 

 Elizabeth Ne\ ile. 14th January. 17th Henry \ III. ."there 

 appear among the dishes for "the first course at dinner 

 'Teals, 7 of a dish ;' and in the account of the expen-c in 

 the week for flesh and fish for the same marriage, -Mal- 

 lards and Teal, 80 doMB,' are ckargcd -.l':t II s.' AKo 

 in the charge of Sir John Nevile of Chete, the fat! 

 the bride above mentioned, at Lammas assizes, in the 3D h 

 Henry VIII., lie then being sheriff of Yorkshire, we find 

 12 shillings charged for ' Mallards, Teal, and other wild 

 fowl.' 



TEAM. Nothing is of greater importance in the ma- 

 nagement of a farm than the cattle which perform Un- 

 necessary work in ploughing and other opcrat ions on the 

 soil, in drawing manure to the land and carrying the pro- 

 duce to market. It is evident that the smaller the expense 

 of the team which does the requisite work in proper time, 

 the greater the profit of the farmer, and every saving in 

 this part of the expense of cultivation is so much added 

 to the clear gain. Wherever the land is only partially 

 cultivated, and a portion of it remains in coarse pasture, 

 which costs little or nothing to the occupier, or where ex- 

 tensive open commons afford cheap food for oxen, these 

 last are naturally employed in farm labour. If four oxen 

 do only the work of two horses, they are maintained at a 

 much smaller expense, and, after working for two or three 

 years, their value is improved for the purpose of fatting 

 for the butcher. The necessary gear is much less expen- 

 sive, especially where the old yoke is still in use, whether 

 across the neck or the horns. In fact for a poor man who 

 has only a few acres of land, and who is situated near a 

 waste or common, oxen, and even cows anil heifers, arc 

 by far the most economical team. Many writeis on agri- 

 culture, who in general have more theoretical than prac- 

 tical knowledge of husbandry, have maintained the geneial 

 superiority of an ox team over that composed r.f h 

 and have given calculations which appear clcarlj t< 

 blish their point. But, on the other side, it ma\ 1 



!. that wherever suable land is the chief object of 

 the farmer's attention, and the tillage of the soil is luoiiL-ht 

 to any degree of perfection, there oxen are never teen at 

 work, but have been invariably superseded by active 



It has been urged that at Windsor Park, where it may 

 be supposed that the farms in which (ieorge III. took so 

 much inteiest were conducted by the most experienced 

 agriculturists, a ccnsideiable tram of oxen was kept, and 

 did most of the work, even the earning on the n 

 Tills is a continuation of what we have observed before. 

 The oxen feed on the grass of nn extensive park, the value 

 of which is not brought to account. They are very lightly 

 worked, and fatten well after two or three years' work ; 

 but if a rent had to be paid for their pasture, or if it were 

 calculated how many young oxen and heifers or sheep 

 oould have been kept on the pasture consumed by the 

 u\en, and the profit of thc-c \\cic set againM the value of 

 the work dime, it would probably appear that then- Wl 

 gieat economy in the ox-team compared with the li 

 In Switzerland, which is tolerably advanced in its agricul- 

 ture, oxen an- veiv geneinllv used for the wink of tin- 

 farm: but there the Msteni of Mall-feeding is iiimcisal, 

 and having a coiiMdeiable portion of glass-land, which 

 can be irrigated by the streams from the mountains, they 

 cut the ctiaise long giiLv produced there for their . 

 and oxen : and this food is mure congenial to their i . 

 than to horses, which do not thrive on coarse w a 

 and icquire hay and emu nearly all the year ronnii. But 

 where then i-s-laml and nu.re artificial grass, such 



liiifoin, and clover, which is the case in all x- 



