228 BRITISH BIRDS 5 EGGS. 



abundant in our island than at present, in consequence of 

 the drainage of our marshes. Pennant records that during 

 one season, in the neighbourhood of Wainfleet, of Ducks, 

 Widgeons, and Teals, 31,200 were taken in only ten decoys, 

 of which more than two-thirds were of the present species ; 

 and that at a single driving of the Fens in Lincolnshire, 

 before the young had taken wing, and while the old birds 

 were in moult, one hundred and fifty dozens have been cap- 

 tured. The same district at the present time scarcely pro- 

 duces a dozen broods in the year." 



THE COMMON TEAL. Boschas crecca. This, though a 

 small species, is one of our most beautiful ducks. In some 

 parts of our island it is chiefly a winter visitant, but in 

 others, as in many parts of the south of Scotland, it is, to 

 a far greater ~ex tent, a constant resident, breeding in the 

 vicinity of its haunts, and quitting them only in very dry 

 or severe weather. Marshy moorland wastes, with small 

 ponds, are generally chosen for breeding in, and in such 

 wild spots its nest is usually placed among the heath or long 

 grass, and is externally composed of these materials, though 

 thickly lined with soft down. The full number of the eggs 

 is eleven, which are of a buff-white colour. 



THE GARGANY DUCK. Bosckas circia. This beautiful 



