284* ANATIDJ3. 



seldom quit the immediate neighbourhood of the place 

 in which they were bred, as I have repeatedly observed 

 them to haunt the same district from the time of their 

 hatching till they separated and paired, on the approach 

 of the following spring. The Teal breeds in the long 

 rushy herbage about the edges of lakes, or in the boggy 

 parts of the upland moors. Its nest is formed of a large 

 mass of decayed vegetable matter, with a lining of down 

 and feathers, upon which eight or ten eggs rest." Dr. 

 Heysham, in his Catalogue of Cumberland Animals, says, 

 that a few Teal certainly breed in the mosses of that 

 county every year. 



In Ireland the Teal is found in great numbers through- 

 out the winter, and a few are resident there all the year. 

 Sir Robert Sibbald, and other authorities since his time, 

 notice the Teal as inhabiting the edges of the Scottish 

 lakes ; Mr. Dunn, however, says that it is not numerous 

 either in Orkney or Shetland, although the most so in 

 winter ; but that a few pairs occasionally remain during 

 summer and breed. They prefer the inland lakes to the 

 sea-shore. Richard Dann, Esq. sent me word that this 

 beautiful little Duck is widely and numerously dispersed 

 over the whole of Norway and Sweden, but is most plen- 

 tiful in the north during the breeding-season. It breeds 

 all over Lapland, both western and eastern, and is very 

 abundant in the Dofre Fiel, within the range of the birch 

 trees. The eggs vary in number from ten to fifteen. It 

 breeds also in the cultivated districts in all the mosses 

 and bogs. Mr. Proctor says the Teal is pretty common 

 in Iceland, and visits Greenland. Eastward of Scandi- 

 navia it is found in Russia, and is abundant in Germany, 

 Holland, France, Spain, Italy, Corfu, Sicily, and Malta ; 

 visits North Africa in winter, and has been noticed at 

 Smyrna and Trebizond. The Teal was found in the 



