BIRDS 279 



TEAL. 



Querquedula crecca (L.). 



In former days, before so many of our flows had been 

 reclaimed, the Teal appears to have bred very generally in 

 Lakeland, although always more local in its preferences than 

 the Mallard. It still nests in reduced numbers on Foulshaw 

 moss ; near Bassenthwaite, Derwentwater, Edenhall, Thruston- 

 field, Salta moss, near Alston, in fact pretty generally. Dr. 

 Gough considered it not uncommon near Kendal, and obtained 

 young birds in Dubbs moss, Lambrigg, in 1874. We visited 

 Solway Flow on June 5, 1890, but saw no ducks until we 

 reached some small pools of water, thickly studded with rushes. 

 A Teal in female dress rose from a small ' dub/ at the edge of 

 which we found three flappers skulking. Another female Teal 

 got up and flew around anxiously. Once she settled to watch 

 our movements from a knoll of heather, but soon recommenced 

 her restless flights. The cause of her disquietude was speedily 

 revealed in seven dusky ducklings, piping shrilly among the 

 reeds. Having examined one of these chicks, we released him 

 on the surface of a small pond, when, though only two or three 

 days old, he shot away in hot haste to the nearest cover, 

 travelling with greater speed than a young Mallard of the same 

 age would have done. The male parent was not noticed on this 

 occasion, but I have observed male and female parents taking 

 joint charge of the young. Monkhill Lough is a frequent rendez- 

 vous of the birds. On the 12th of August 1889 we there saw 

 some fifty to sixty Teal in a bunch. They prefer the shallow 

 parts of the lough, where there is some cover on the bank, to 

 which fact we have owed some of our pleasantest close studies 

 of Teal. For instance, on the 17th of February 1890, I was 

 lying in cover at the lough edge, when three Teal drakes and a 

 duck came flighting up, pitched immediately in front of me, and 

 commenced to bathe and frolic. First one lifted itself half up 

 in the water and flapped its wings ; then a companion dipped 

 its neck under water and allowed the water to run down upon 

 its back and wings, seeming to enjoy the process amazingly. 



