This is the smallest of the Duck kind known in the British Isles. It is a remarkably beautiful bird, and in colouring as well as in form closely resembles the Mallard, but is much smaller. It frequents marshy places and the margins of lakes and rivers, seldom betaking itself to estuaries or the sea-coast until frost sets in. It walks with ease, swims with great dexterity, flies rapidly, and is in all respects remarkable for its activity. It rises from the water or the land at once, and shoots away with great rapidity, so that the marksman who would bring it down must be very expert with his gun. It breeds in the long reedy grasses on the margin of lakes, or on upland moors and marshes. Its nest is a mass of decayed vegetable matter lined with down and feathers, in which it lays ten or twelve eggs, about an inch and three-quarters in length and an inch and a quarter in breadth. North of the Tay they are 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. McGillivray, "the Common Teal (_Anas crecca_, Linn.), with the Garganey (_Anas circia_), the Gadwall (_Anas strepira_), and the Pintail Duck (_Anas acuta_), we find slight differences 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. Of the Teals there seem to be three, probably four, species, which in our climate may be divided into three--namely, the Common Teal, _Anas crecca_; the Summer Teal, _Anas circia_; and the Little Teal, or Black Diver, _Anas nigra_. 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.