Volume 40, Plate III / Ornithology (Birds)

Common Teal

Boschas crecca

A small and richly varied duck whose male in adult plumage shows white scapulars forming a line down each side of the back and a beautifully marked head. A resident in southern Scotland that breeds near its haunts and feeds at twilight in moist ground and stubble, it is less shy than most wildfowl and wheels in circles like plovers when disturbed, ranging through Europe, northern Asia, and India.