Nest, &c. 
Food. 
316 NATATORES. QUERQUEDULA. TEAL. 
bred, as I have repeatedly observed them to haunt the same 
district from the time of their hatching till they separated 
and paired, on the approach of the following spring.— The 
Teal breeds in the long rushy herbage about the edges of 
lakes, or in the boggy parts of the upland moors. Its nest 
is formed of a large mass of decayed vegetable matter, with 
a lining of down and feathers upon which the eggs rest ; 
these are from eight to ten in number, in size rather exceed- 
ing those of the Ring-Dove, and of a cream-white. The 
young, when first excluded, are covered with a dark-coloured 
down, that, in less than two months, gives place to a plu- 
mage similar (in both sexes) to that of the female parent. 
The young males do not acquire their peculiar distinctive 
garb till about the middle of December. The present is a 
night-feeding bird; commencing the flight from its diurnal 
retreat immediately after sun-set. During the day it reposes 
upon the water, or sits motionless on its very brink, with the 
head couched between the shoulders, or, when actually asleep, 
with the bill hidden under the scapulars, the usual reposing 
attitude of most of the feathered race. The flight of the 
Teal is very rapid, and, when flushed, it darts off so quickly, 
as to require great alertness in the sportsman, that he may 
gain his shot before the bird is out of distance.—Its food is 
composed of the seeds of various aquatic plants, vegetables, 
insects, and mollusca. In confinement (which it bears well, 
and soon becomes very tame), when fed upon grain, it al- 
ways moistens the food before attempting to swallow it ;—a 
habit also observed in its congener the Gargany.—The bill 
of the Teal is formed exactly on the plan of that of the Pin- 
tail, and the two middle tail-feathers, though not elongated 
in the same proportion, are longer than the rest, and pointed. 
The American Green-winged Teal of Witson has by some 
been considered a distinct species, on account of the white 
bar on the shoulders, seen in many of the males; the author, 
however, thinks it identical with the European bird, and I 
believe Dr Ricuarpson and Mr Swarnson are of the same 
