140 WOODLANDERS AND FIELD FOLK 



the feeder. Under ordinary circumstances the 

 common wild duck feeds upon floating grasses, grain, 

 insects and worms. A well-grown mallard some- 

 times weighs three pounds. 



The teal is the smallest of the wild ducks, and is an 

 exquisitely-formed and prettily-marked species. It 

 is dear to the fowler as the gourmet, for it is easily 

 decoyed or stalked, and when procured affords 

 delicate eating. Many a time does the heart of a 

 shore-shooter warm as he hears the whistle of a 

 bunch of teal and sees them drop down like a plummet. 

 They love to haunt the margins of fresh-water 

 streams and lakes, and when put away from these 

 rise rapidly and as though they had been shot from 

 the water. It is only when their inland resorts are 

 hard frozen that they are driven to the sea, and once 

 here every art of the fowler is used in coming up 

 with them. As many as eighty-five and upon 

 another occasion one hundred and six teal have 

 been picked up after a well-directed shot from a 

 punt-gun the former by Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, 

 the latter off the Irish coast. Both shots were at 

 flying birds. The teal is an early breeder, and 

 being resident is among the first of the ducks seen 

 on the decoys, and with the mallard is the species 

 most abundantly taken. It is liable to the same 

 sexual change in the breeding season, and during 

 the time it has young is most affectionate in tending 



