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that the offense was not general, but was traceable to certain definite individuals. 
When the guilty birds were killed theTeal population remained immune. In northern 
China and also near Hong-kong the Peregrine Falcon is said to feed almost exclusively 
on Teal (Vaughan and Jones, 1913). 
The insect parasites found in the feathers as well as the intestinal parasites are 
listed by Naumann (1896-1905). 
Damage. No damage to agriculture has been noted. 
Food Value. In Europe Teal are usually reckoned the best of the shoal-water 
ducks, though some prefer the Mallard. Like all ducks they are best in the late 
autumn, but this species never becomes strong or fishy in taste. In India they are so 
highly esteemed for the table that in the old days some of the epicures used to pen 
up several hundred Teal in the spring in what Hume and Marshall (1879) call a 
“tealery.” They go on to give exact instructions for the construction of a teal- 
paddock. The birds were consumed in the hot summer months, when they made a 
delicious and appetizing meal, and apparently they were more easily kept in con- 
dition in these enclosures than other ducks. 
John Ray in 1678 wrote: “This bird for the delicate taste of its flesh, and the 
wholesome nourishment it affords the body, doth deservedly challenge the first place 
among those of its kind” (Willughby and Ray, 1678). 
Hunt. On the coasts of the British Isles, Teal are hunted with punt-guns, large 
shots being sometimes made. W. Thompson (1851) speaks of fifty taken at one 
shot and thirty-two at another in the winter of 1837-38. The British record seems 
to be 106 killed at one shot on the River Shannon in 1879 (Encyclopedia of Sport, 
1897-98, Punt Shooting). In France they are easily decoyed to the “huts,” and 
Ternier and Masse (1907) speak of killing thirty during a morning flight. Many 
more than a hundred have been killed in one day by one gun flight shooting, but 
the largest number seems to have been reached by Lord Lewisham who at Laughton 
on October 6, 1913, shot 186 to his own gun (Gladstone, 1922). 
Wing-shooting at Teal is more difficult than at any other duck, on account of the 
disconcerting nature of their flight. But when they come in large bunches a success- 
ful shot can sometimes be made by a not over skilful sportsman. A single Teal flying 
close to the ground or water is one of the most difficult of all shots. As already 
remarked Teal were the mainstay of the old decoys, but these contrivances have 
mostly disappeared in recent times. In the fourteenth century Teal could be pur- 
chased for two pence eaeh, while at the same time the Mallard sold for five pence. 
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they were sometimes reckoned as 
“half-ducks,” and three were often taken as the equivalent of one Mallard. 
