CHAPTER EIGHTEEN SPRING BIRDS 



mental pieces of water.as his fine plumage, his boldness.and 

 familiarity render him peculiarly interesting and amusing. 

 The teal can scarcely be called a winter bird with us, al- 

 though occasionally a pair or two appear; but in the spring 

 they come in numbers to breed and rear their tiny young 

 in the swamps and lochs. Nothing can exceed the beauty 

 and neatness of this miniature duck. They fly with great 

 swiftness, rising suddenly into the air when disturbed, and 

 dropping as quickly after a short flight, much in the same 

 manner as a snipe. In the spring the drake has a peculiar 

 whistle, at other times their note is a low quack. A pair of 

 teal, if undisturbed, will return year after year to the same 

 pool for the purpose of breeding. Like the wild duck, they 

 sometimes hatch their young a considerable distance from 

 the water, and lead the young brood immediately to it. I 

 once, when riding in Ross-shire, saw an old teal with eight 

 newly-hatched young ones cross the road. The youngsters 

 could not climb up the opposite bank, and young and old 

 all squatted flat down to allow me to pass. I got off my horse 

 and lifted all the little birds up and carried them a little dist- 

 ance down the road to a ditch, for which I concluded they 

 were making, the old bird all the time fluttering about me 

 and frequently coming within reach ofmy riding-whip.The 

 part of the road where I first found them passed through 

 thick firwood with rank heather, and it was quite a puzzle 

 to me how such small animals, scarcely bigger than a half- 

 grown mouse, could have got along through it. The next 

 day I saw them all enjoying themselves in a small pond at 

 some little distanceoff,whereabroodof teal appeared every 

 year. In some of the mountain lakes the teal breed in great 

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