ANATID.E. 495 



to a very small pond, with a margin of thick high 

 grass and low shrubs. 



In its wild state the Teal is said to breed in the 

 long rushy herbage about the edges of lakes, or in 

 the boggy parts of upland moors. The nest is 

 formed of a large mass of decaj^ed vegetable matter, 

 with a lining of down and feathers.* 



The food of the Teal consists of seeds, grasses, 

 water plants, and insects in their various states.! 

 In confinement it may be kept on barley and other 

 grain. 



This is the smallest and one of the most beautiful 

 of the Ducks. The beak is nearly black ; the hides 

 hazel ; the forehead, top of the head, cheeks, back of 

 the neck and throat rich reddish bay ; round the eye, 

 reaching to the back of the neck, is a largish patch 

 of glossy green, broadest immediately behind the 

 eye, and narrowing to nothing at the back of the 

 neck; round the base of the upper mandible, and 

 running from thence to the green patch the fore 

 part of which it surrounds both above and below 

 is a narrow line of white ; back, scapulars, flanks and 

 thighs pencilled with zigzag lines of black on a white 

 ground, giving the whole a greyish appearance ; from 

 the scapulars lying backwards are some longish 

 feathers of a rich buff, and others close to them of 

 black ; rump and tail-coverts greyish brown, some of 



* Yarrell, vol. in., p. 284. f Id., p. 283. 



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