THE TEAL. 
243 
have tliree times seen it at Balta Sound, and sliot it once, l)ut 
can hear of no other instances of its having been observed. 
THE TEAL. 
Anas crecca. 
Throughout the islands the Teal is tolerably numerous, 
though nowhere common, occurring chiefly in spring, in small 
parties, remaining for about a week or a fortnight, and pairing 
before departure. A few, however, remain to breed, but the 
nest has been much less frequently met with since a dealer 
offered high prices for eggs of all wild ducks except the common 
one. Though this evil still exists, a yet greater evil has been 
almost entirely put a stop to by the gun-tax already mentioned, 
inasmuch as the murder of the birds while breeding, or even 
while in charge of the young, can now occur but seldom. In 
Unst, however, which is rather thickly populated, the Teal 
has but little chance of hatching in peace ; for, nesting as it 
invariably does in the immediate neighbourhood of fresh water, 
the drake, which does not entirely desert its mate, at least 
during the early period of incubation, is sure to be discovered 
sooner or later in the water, usually upon the side where the 
nest is concealed. 
The Teal shows a decided preference for fresh water, seldom 
feeding upon the coast unless compelled to do so either by 
hard frosts or by man’s persecution ; in the latter case it is 
not so very ready to return again to its inland haunts. They 
feed among the rocks at ebb tide, but at high water either 
wander up the gravelly burns or sit patiently floating off at 
sea. In spring it is by no means unusual to meet with them 
swimming in deep water sheltered from the north winds by 
the steep rocks. Under such circumstances, exercising extreme 
caution, I have more than once been enabled to approach within 
a few yards of them ; and in watching their pretty gambols, 
and marvelling at the ever- varying tints of plumage, I have 
