OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 385 



breadth. Down small and uniform dark brown without any 

 white tips. Incubation, performed by the female, lasts from 

 twenty-one to twenty-two days. Only one brood is reared in 

 the year, but if the first clutch of eggs be taken others will be 

 laid. The old Teals are much attached to each other, and I 

 should say undoubtedly pair for life. The male Teal assumes 

 a brown moulting dress like allied species. 



Diagnostic Characters. — (Nuptial plumage), Aiias, with the 

 mantle vermiculated, with a green band on the sides of the neck, 

 reaching to the eye, with the head chestnut, and with the breast 

 white spotted with black (adult male) ; with the alar speculum 

 black, and the wing under seven inches long (adult female). 

 Length, 13 to 16 inches. 



2 c 



