234 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



found occasionally all the year round, returning, according to Mr. 

 St. John, year after year to breed, if left undisturbed in the process 

 of incubation. 



" If we compare," says Mr. McGilllivray, " the Common Teal 

 (Anas crecca), with the Garganey (Anas circia), the Gad wall (Anas 

 strepera) and the Pintail Duck (Anas acuta), we find slight differ- 

 ences in the form of the bill, in the elongated lamella of the upper 

 mandible, in the length of the neck and tail ; but they are all so 

 intimately connected that, unless each species can be converted into 

 a genus, there can be no reason for separating them." He classes 

 them accordingly under the general name of Teal. 



This bird makes its appearance in France in spring and autumn. 

 It breeds in all the temperate climates of Europe, and pushes on 

 towards the south as the winter advances. 



According to Columella, in his work " De Re Rustica," the 

 Romans succeeded in domesticating the Teal ; but the bird has 

 reverted to an entirely wild state, which is much to be regretted, for 

 it would have formed a valuable addition to the poultry-yard, the 

 flesh of the Teal being held in great estimation. 



The group of Ducks usually denominated Teal, Mr. Swainson has 

 formed into the sub-genus Boschas, in which he also includes the 

 Mallard or Wild Duck. " As this is the most numerous group." 

 says this writer, " so it exhibits a greater diversity of form among the 

 species. They are all, however, characterised by a bill longer than the 

 head, the breadth of which is equal throughout, sometimes indeed a 

 little dilated, but never contracted at the tip, while the laminae of the 

 upper mandible are entirely concealed by the margin of the bill." 

 "The beautiful Anas formosa, which is essentially a Teal, differs." 

 says a writer in the " Penny Cyclopaedia," "in the greater length of 

 the tail, thus connecting it more closely with the Pintail and other 

 long-tailed species ; while the bill, which is depressed in form in the 

 Mallard as well as in the Domestic Duck, is convex, with projecting 

 laminae, in the teal. Such is the case with the blue-winged Teal of 

 North America, in which the laminae of the upper bill project nearly 

 as much as in the Gadwall, while the upper mandible exhibits that 

 sinuosity at the base which is seen in no other Duck except the 

 Shoveller." 



Mr. Selby says of the common Teal : — " I am inclined to think 

 that our indigenous breeds seldom quit the immediate neighbourhood 

 of the places in which they are bred, as I have repeatedly observed 

 them to haunt the same district from the time of their being hatched 

 till they separated and paired on the approach of the following 



