TEAL. 11-7 



breast is reddish, varied with round spots : the belly 

 is white, or yellowish- white : the wing-coverts are 

 brown : the speculum of the wings is half white, half 

 black, and edged with two white bands : the legs are 

 ash-coloured. The female is less, and has a reddish- 

 white band, spotted with brown, behind and beneath 

 the eyes : the throat is white : the plumage above is 

 blackish-brown, edged with a broad band of clear 

 brown : the under parts are whitish : the beak is mar- 

 bled with brown, and is of a yellowish-brown beneath, 

 near its edges. The young males before their moult 

 resemble the females : and at the beginning of winter 

 they have the throat white, sometimes spotted with 

 black : the red and green on the head are indistinct, 

 and sprinkled with small white and reddish spots : 

 many of the feathers are brown, mixed with those 

 that are common to the old males : the upper band 

 wliich borders the speculum is spotted or shaded with 

 reddish : and the white feathers on the belly are often 

 sprinkled with black. 



The labyrinth at the bottom of the trachea of the 

 male is very small, of a bony texture, but very thin, 

 and of a suborbicular shape, about the size of a pea. 



This species affects more northern regions than the 

 preceding, and occurs equally in those of Europe and 

 America : it is very abundant in England during its 

 migration ; but it does not appear usually to breed 

 here, although its nest is said to be not uncommon in 

 France. The nest is large, and is composed of soft 

 dried grasses, lined with feathers, and generally con- 

 cealed in a hole among the roots of reeds and bull- 

 rushes near the edge of the water, and, according to 



