510 



the following anecdote of that excellent field-naturalist the late Mr. St. John will show. We 

 extract it verbatim from Macgillivray's ' British Birds' : — 



" I once, when riding in Ross-shire, saw an old Teal with eight newly hatched young ones 

 cross the road. I got off my horse, and lifted all the little birds up and carried them a little 

 distance down the road to a ditch, for which I concluded they were making, the old bird all the 

 time fluttering about me, and frequently coming within reach of my riding-whip. The part of 

 the road where I first found them passed through thick fir-wood with rank heather, and it was 

 quite a puzzle to me how such small animals, scarcely bigger than a half-grown mouse, could 

 have got along through it. The next day I saw them all enjoying themselves in a small pond at 

 some little distance off, where a brood of Teal appeared every year." 



Naumann, who, respecting its occurrence in Germany, merely says that it is one of the 

 commonest Ducks in all suitable localities, gives the following account of its habits : — 



" They visit during the daytime the shallow shores, amongst the weeds in morasses, or the 

 shallow places in pools, on the bottom, of which many weeds grow, which they can reach with 

 the bill without diving. Thus they frequent from choice small pools, flooded meadows, marshes, 

 and marshy ponds, preferring them to larger sheets of water, and they are seldom seen on rivers, 

 whereas they are often found inhabiting the swampy green shores of small streams. Towards even- 

 ing they are particularly restless, flying about from pool to pool in the meadows, or to the ponds 

 formed by the rain- or snow-water collecting in the fields. Here they hunt after worms or grain, 

 and in spring feed much on barley and oats, also on the seeds of Panicum glaucum, P. viride, &c. 

 After the Mallard they are the commonest Ducks in such pools in the fields when the snow has 

 melted ; and when these are not situated near well-frequented roads, and are large, they remain 

 there also during the day. In the late summer and autumn they feed chiefly on grain, and are 

 fond of the lentil-like seed of Potamogeton marinus, P. pectinatus, &c, and are particularly 

 fond of the seeds of some of the rushes and grasses — for instance, that of Festuca jluitans, and 

 visit places where it grows in abundance, in the evening, remaining there till daybreak. They 

 fatten on this nourishing food, and their flesh then becomes very delicate. In warm countries 

 they are said to frequent the rice-fields for this purpose ; but they do not visit the oat- and barley- 

 fields with us in the harvest-time, but are satisfied with the various seeds of the plants growing 

 in the marshes. They often run along the banks, seeking food, or walk about grass meadows, 

 near the water, picking up worms and slugs. When swimming on the water, one often sees them 

 carefully picking up small articles of food, with the neck and head held down and pushed 

 forward. When thus employed a flock will spread over a considerable surface, and no one gets 

 in the way of the other ; or if this happens they settle it with a little angry quacking, and the 

 competition for food bears no further consequences. If they are disturbed, all rise at once on 

 the wing, or at times single ones remain sitting quite still, waiting the course of events. 



"They feed on all sorts. of small worms, larvae, water-insects, small freshwater shell-fish, 

 tender shoots of plants, seeds of many marsh- and water-plants, barley, and oats, and but seldom 

 feed on small fish-spawn, little fish, or tadpoles." 



As we before stated, the Common Teal is found, during summer, from the extreme north of 

 Scandinavia to the far south of Europe, breeding wherever it finds a suitable locality, although 

 much more abundantly in the north than in the south. In England, where it breeds in many if not 



