EUROPEAN TEAL 
229 
They seem to be one of the easiest species to take in trap- or clap-nets, a primitive 
method still in use in India, China and even Holland. Hume and Marshall (1879) 
say that in their day live Teal could be bought from native netters at small stations 
for from two to eight rupees per hundred ! Even in recent times it has appeared in 
large numbers in some European markets, shipped from China. 
Behavior in Captivity. Teal are among the most attractive of ducks for small 
pools of water. They have the advantage of not injuring or tearing up the grass, 
but they have the disadvantage of remaining wild and retiring unless one has the 
luck to get a nice stock of hand-reared birds. When captured wild and pinioned they 
unfortunately very seldom breed. I have found them poorly adapted to stand the 
long cold and dry winters of New England. During our winters their feet often 
become dry, shriveled and completely useless, and the birds seem unable to hold 
their weight. Our Blue-winged Teal is of course even more delicate. But in the 
London Gardens, where the climate is more suitable and they can be kept out of 
doors most of the year, European Teal have always done well. There the average 
length of life of 43 specimens was over four years, the maximum being about thirteen 
years (P. C. Mitchell, 1911). Schmidt (1878) says he had specimens live 6, 7, 8 and 
41 years. This last record is certainly open to question (perhaps 14 is meant) for I 
doubt whether the smaller ducks live nearly so long as the large ones. The maximum 
age attained by specimens in the Cairo Gardens was 5 years 1 month (Flower, 1910). 
Teal have probably been kept in European collections ever since the Middle Ages. 
The Prince of Conde had them at Chantilly in 1663 (Loisel, 1912). The London 
Gardens have possessed them since their earliest days, and it is quite remarkable 
that they should have bred there no less than thirteen times between the years 
1830 and 1880 (P. L. Sclater, 1880). They have also bred in apparently very unsuit- 
able surroundings in St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin (Millais, 1902). This has proved a 
rather difficult bird to breed on private estates. “Pinioned birds have once or twice 
but very seldom nested and reared young,” so Earl Grey of Falloden writes me. 
“This species is very shy and most difficult to tame. Wild birds have occasionally 
become quite tame but have not stayed through the breeding season, except when a 
wild drake has paired with a pinioned duck.” From this it may be seen that the 
innate degree of wildness or tameness of a species is no criterion of its behavior in 
captivity. Among English fanciers the species has been bred by Mr. Wormald (in 
litt.) and Sir Douglas Brooke (Millais, 1902) but the only method that has proved at 
all successful was the one originated by Sir Richard Graham at Netherby. He pur- 
chased forty or fifty pairs each season and pulled the stubs of the primaries at a time 
which enabled them to regain their flight toward the end of the breeding season. 
These birds then stayed in the vicinity and bred freely. After a number of years, he, 
in 1908, captured some 1100 Teal in his traps. This did not represent even half the 
