668 AVES—TEAL....WIDGEUN. 
THE TEAL2 

Tuts is the smallest bird of the duck kind; it is common in England in 
the winter months; and some imagine that it breeds there as well as it does 
in France. It does not usually weigh more than twelve ounces; and it 
measures about sixteen inches from the point of the bill to the tip of the 
tail, and from the extremity of each wing, when extended, nearly two feet. 
The bill is of a dark brown color, the head is considerably lighter, inclining 
to a bay, with a large white stripe over each eye, bending downwards, to- 
wards the back part of the head; the back and sides under the wings are 
curiously varied with lines of white and black. The breast is of a dirty 
colored yellow, interspersed with dusky transverse lines; the belly more 
bright, with yellowish brown spots; the quill feathers of the wings are 
of a dusky brown, with white edges; the covert feathers appear of a 
fine shining green, with their tips white; the scapular feathers are more 
inclining to an ash color; the legs and: feet are brown, the claws black. 
These birds feed on cresses, chervil, and other weeds, and also on seeds 
and some kinds of water insects. ‘The flesh is a great delicacy, and has a 
less fishy taste than any other of the wild duck tribe. 
The female constructs her nests of reeds interwoven with grass, and is 
said to make it among rushes, that it may rise or fall with the varying 
height of the water. 
LHE: WADGEON 2 
Tus bird weighs about twenty-two ounces; it has a black nail at the 
end of the upper mandible of the bill, the other part of which is of a lead 
color; the structure of the head and mouth very much resembles the com- 
mon wud duck, only the head does not seem to be quite so large, in propor- 


1 Anas crecca, Lin. 2 Anas Penelope, Lin. 
