234 THE SHELDUCK AND SURFACE-FEEDING DUCKS 



is generally supposed. We are indebted for practically all that we 

 know on the behaviour of teal during courtship to Mr. J. G. Millais. 

 Several males will vie one with another in friendly rivalry for the 

 possession of the particular female which has given signs of willing- 

 ness to mate, should a suitable suitor present himself. The antics 

 of these amorous males are somewhat extravagant. As if accord- 

 ing to some traditional usage, they stand, momentarily, erect in the 

 water, raising the tail, arching the neck, and drawing the beak 

 rapidly up the breast, mallard fashion : every now and then one or 

 other will give forth a low double whistle. During these movements 

 the female will sometimes allow two drakes to approach her closely, 

 all the others disposing themselves in a circle or semicircle near at 

 hand. But should any male approach who has received no sign of 

 favour, she promptly drives him off. After some days of this flirtation 

 the female at last goes off with one or other of her suitors to some 

 nesting-place near at hand, but once pairing has taken place a strict 

 monogamy is observed. 



The male teal seems to display more anxiety for the welfare of 

 his mate and young than, say, the wigeon, and in this respect again 

 he resembles the mallard. At any rate, when these birds have been 

 discovered breeding, the male has often exhibited as much concern 

 for the downy young as his mate, inviting the pursuit of the intruder 

 by a feigned lameness. The young at the same time scatter, and 

 evade detection by lying close to the ground. At times the female 

 shows a quite remarkable courage in the defence of her brood. A 

 case in point is furnished by the well-known story quoted by Yarrell, 1 

 wherein a brood of downy nestlings, found by a boy on Lord Cavan's 

 estate in Achill, was driven towards the farmhouse followed by the 

 distracted mother. The boy drove them into the yard and into a 

 shed, and still she followed and was shut in with them. How great an 

 ordeal was this may be gathered from the fact that both dogs and 

 people had to be encountered during the whole of the latter part of 



1 British Birds, vol. iv. p. 389. 



