X 



THE TEAL. 



Anas erecca. 

 Qiterqutdula erecca. 



LTHOUGH the smallest of the 

 true D uck trib e, this bird is 

 very handsome, and very good 

 eating withal. 



In size it is from about 

 fourteen to fifteen inches in 

 length. The head and neck 

 are chesnut, except that a 

 very narrow band of light 

 buff, starting at the base of 

 the beak, extends over the 

 eye to the back of the head ; 

 another band branches off 

 from the front of the eye, and 

 passing under, loses itself at 

 the ear coverts. Between 

 these two bands from around 

 the eye, and extending to- 

 wards the back of the head, 

 is a broader band of glossy 

 bluish-green, which reaches a 

 short way down the back of 

 the neck. The chin is black, 

 the breast yellowish-white, 



