284 
ALLEN’S naturalist’s LIISRARY. 
wing-coverts and axillaries white; 
1 ill nearly black; feet, toes, and membrane brownish-grey ; iris 
^7 ; tarL°s,1-!“"'^’’ ^'o ; tail, 
Adult Female— Different from the male. Dark brown above 
with crescentic or horse-shoe markings of tawny-buff on the 
mantle and back; the lower back, rump, and uppL tail-coverts 
dusky and more blackish-brown, mottled with whitish edmn"s 
and centres to the feathers; wing as in the male, with a"”!! 
equa ly distinct speculum, showing green in certain lights and 
puqffish-blue in others; the black border to the inner margin 
ot the peculum dusky-black, not velvety-black; crown of head 
rufous-brown with dusky streaks; sides of face and throat 
ashy-whitish minutely spotted with dusky; lores, a spot under 
the eye, and upper throat white; breast white, with a slight 
reddish tinge on the fore-neck, this and the breast and flanks 
mottled, and the under tail-coverts streaked with dark brown 
centres to the feathers. Total length, 15-5 inches: culmen, 
I 25 , wing, 67 ; tail, 2'5 ; tarsus, lu. 
Mr. De Winton writes to me concerning the post-nuptial 
plumage of the leal ; — “ In the summer dress it is very diffi- 
cult to tell the males from the females, and they resemble each 
other more than any Duck I know. After a close inspection, 
he chief difference I can find is that the males have a more 
lead-coloured head, with no light stripe over the eye, but they 
show a little buff at the sides of the base of the tail The 
lemale has a pale stripe over the eye, though this is never so 
distinct as in the hen Garganey.” ^ ^ 
Young. At first both sexes resemble the old female in 
plumage, but are more distinctly mottled with dark centres 
to the feathers of the under surface, while the wina-coverts 
have pale margins. 
Hybrids.—l’he Teal has been known to cross with other 
Ducks, such as the Mallard and Pin-tail, while the so-called 
Bimaculated Duck (J. iimaculata) is now admitted to be a 
hybrid between a Teal and a Mallard. 
Range in Great Britain. — The Teal nests in most parts of the 
British Islands, but more plentifully in the north. Mr. Ussher 
says that it is reported to breed in every c junty iji Ireland 
