COMMON TEAL. 547 



loves to breed amongst the scattered trees in the low-lying forest- swamps 

 and on the banks of the lakes and couriers, as the little freshwater fjords 

 of Siberia are called, up in the north near the Arctic circle. The nest is 

 sometimes concealed amongst the rushes, often hidden in a clump of 

 bilberries or under a willow bush. The first egg is laid early in May in 

 North Germany, and even in the Arctic regions it loses no time, as eggs 

 may be taken a week after the ice has broken up and before it has all 

 marched down to the sea. 



The nest resembles that of most other Ducks, and contains from 

 eight to ten buffish-white or cream-coloured eggs, in very rare instances 

 with the faintest possible tinge of green, which vary in length from 1*8 to 

 1*6 inch, and in breadth from 1*4 to 1'3 inch. As a rule they are slightly 

 smaller than those of the Garganey ; but they can only be distinguished 

 with certainty by the down, which is small and without any white tips, 

 and scarcely distinguishable from that of the Long-tailed Duck, except 

 that it is slightly darker and not so warm a brown. 



The Teal seldom sits more than three weeks ; but this species is said to 

 be so little shy that the drake takes part in the care of the young until 

 they have feathers, when he leaves them in charge of his mate whilst he 

 retires to assume his brown moulting-dress. 



The Teal is the smallest British Duck and only weighs about a third as 

 much as the Mallard. The general colour of the head and neck of the 

 adult male in nuptial dress is chestnut, but the chin is black; a broad 

 stripe runs from the eye down the sides of the neck, which varies from 

 emerald-green to purple, according to the light in which it is held ; this 

 green stripe is narrowly margined with white on the sides of the head, 

 which runs down to the base of the bill. In the* finely vermiculated back 

 and innermost scapulars the Teal closely resembles the Wigeon, but in the 

 white longitudinal stripes on the outermost scapulars it presents a marked 

 contrast to that bird, though somewhat resembling the Shoveller. The 

 wings of the Teal very closely resemble in colour those of the Pintail, 

 having the same grey coverts, and the alar speculum (which, however, is 

 much more brilliant and emphasized by a broad velvet-black margin to the 

 adjoining secondaries) varies from emerald-green to reddish purple, but is 

 always of the opposite colour to that of the Pintail when the light falls on 

 the two wings in the same direction. The upper breast is white, spotted 

 with black, the rest of the underparts scarcely differing from those of the 

 Wigeon and Pintail ; but the outer tail-coverts are buff, rendered specially 

 conspicuous by velvety black bases. Bill nearly black; legs and feet 

 greyish brown ; irides hazel. The general colour of the upper parts of the 

 adult female is dark brown, every feather edged, and many obscurely barred, 

 with grey, except the scapulars, which are edged with buff, and the wings, 

 which are similar in colour to those of the adult male, but somewhat 



