EUROPEAN TEAL 227 
pathetic and emotional accounts of her devotion to the young fill the pages of orni- 
thological literature. 
Status. There cannot be any doubt of the general decrease of Teal in western 
Europe, following the decline in the number of Mallard, Widgeon, etc., after about 
1760. The old English decoy records place it as second in abundance, being exceeded 
only by the Mallard, though in certain places it was exceeded by the Widgeon. In 
the Ashby Decoy (Lincoln), of the 96,000 ducks taken between 1833 and 1868 
there were 44,568 Teal as against 48,664 Mallard. In the Steeple Decoy (Essex), 
in the early eighteenth century, the Teal were next to Mallard but were outnum- 
bered 30 to 1 by the Widgeon. In the Hale Decoy (Lancaster), the Teal were second 
to the Mallard in the years 1812 to 1825, but since 1875 the Teal have greatly in- 
creased and have far outnumbered the Mallard; from 1875 to 1885, Teal numbered 
4327 as against 1361 Mallard, and from 1900 to 1917 the proportion changed still 
more (6545 Teal to 820 Mallard). In the Orielton Decoy, from 1877 to 1885 the Teal 
were second in abundance to the Widgeon and far outnumbered the Mallard; and 
from 1905 to 1918 the situation continued the same, 3749 being taken in those years. 
In the Iken Decoy (Suffolk), Teal predominated in the years 1878 to 1885, number- 
ing 5902 in a total of 12,683 ducks. On the island of Fdhr (North Sea) in the year 
1877 there were 33,000 Teal taken in a total of 35,490 ducks; on Sylt, 2374 Teal in a 
total of 4194; but on Amrum, where the Pintail was in a majority. Teal numbered 
only 250 in a total of 11,800. Figures for 1880 show no change in the situation on 
these islands. The large proportion of Teal taken in these decoys is due to the tame- 
ness of the birds, and they would certainly have become greatly reduced had it not 
been for the consistent conservation of game on the larger estates. From 1830 to 
1850, W. Thompson (1851) noted a tremendous decrease in Belfast Bay, due perhaps 
to the local increase of commerce. 
For the rest of the range the information is very meager. In southeastern Hun- 
gary it was noted to have decreased markedly on migration in the years previous to 
1906 (von Buda, 1906). Shelley (1872) considered it the most abundant water-fowl 
in Egypt and Nubia; and in India it is probably the commonest winter visitor 
(Hume and Marshall, 1879; C. H. T. Whitehead, 1909). In Kamchatka it is second 
only to the Pintail in abundance (Stejneger, 1885). 
Enemies. Teal are more frequently hunted by predatory birds than are the 
larger ducks. Smaller hawks of the peregrine type attack them. Eggs and young 
are exposed to the usual enemies of water-fowl: crows, magpies, ravens, stoats, 
weasels, foxes, pike, etc. Millais (1902) has something interesting to say about in- 
dividual Brown-headed Gulls which had taken a special liking to young Teal in 
down. Careful investigation of this destruction at Murthly Moss, Scotland, showed 
