174 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



on almost every piece of water, whether 

 large or small, river, pond or marsh. It is 

 wary or tame, according to the treatment 

 it receives. It is found in pairs and also 

 in good-sized flocks. Immense numbers 

 of these birds are snared in India, 

 kept in " tealeries " and fattened for the 

 table. 



The habits of the Common Teal in 

 India during the time it stays with us 

 are not very different from those of the 

 other True Ducks, and there is little to 

 be said about them. I shall therefore 

 proceed to quote the accounts of this 

 bird given by two English naturalists, as 

 they refer chiefly to the habits of this 

 Teal in Europe during the summer. 



The late Mr. Seebohm remarked : 

 "The Teal is no exception to the rule 

 that the larger a bird is the more timid 

 and wary are its actions. It is the smallest 

 European Duck, and at the same time 

 the tamest. It often swims in and out 

 amongst the reeds, fearlessly allowing 

 itself to be watched at a comparatively 

 short distance, but once on the wing it 

 almost rivals the Garganey in the dashing 

 rapidity of its flight. Although it migrates 

 far into the Arctic regions, where it 

 arrives with the first flights of the migra- 



