TEAL 231 



he will find is preceded by a sound like the drawing in of the breath 

 followed by a low grating note. It seems plain, however, that only 

 a general insight into this aspect of the life-history has been obtained, 

 and we -must await further observations before we are in possession 

 of all the facts. 



Save that the male seems to assist the female in the choice of 

 a nesting-site, we have no records as to the share, if any, which he 

 takes in the care of his offspring : and we must assume that, after 

 the fashion of his kind, he leaves this entirely to the female. 



TEAL 

 [W. P. PYCRAFT] 



The teal is at once the smallest British duck, and, after the 

 mallard, the most numerous breeding species in the British Islands. 

 It is thus generally regarded as a resident species. But in the autumn, 

 while hosts of teal arrive on our shores from Northern Europe others 

 are leaving us. These last are our own home-bred birds, and it is a 

 moot point whether any of these pass the winter in the land of their 

 birth : possibly a few remain. If, however, as we surmise, all depart 

 as their places become filled by immigrants, then the teal is a 

 resident species only in the sense that it is always to be met with 

 among us, at one time home-bred birds and at another strangers from 

 afar representing the race. 



These home-bred birds distribute themselves along our eastern 

 and northern counties, a few pushing still farther inland ; but all 

 confine themselves to fresh waters. On the other hand, the autumn 

 immigrants, for some time after their arrival at any rate, haunt the 

 sea and estuaries, drawing gradually inland as newcomers arrive. 

 Here they remain till the spring, unless driven back to the sea by 

 prolonged frost. But this is a refuge which is sought only in dire 



