Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/631

 TEAL 603 the East, not only for temples, but for dwell- ings. It is most employed in ship building, being practically indestructible by wear or de- cay, and vessels built of it have lasted 100 Teak iTectona grandis). years, to be then only broken up on account of their poor sailing qualities from faulty mod- els. The wood works easily, but on account of the large amount of silex contained in it, the tools employed are quickly worn away ; it is brownish, and contains an oil which prevents spikes and other iron work with which it is contact from rusting, even when the wood is used green. Its weight varies in different localities, from 42 to 52 Ibs. to the cubic foot; the teak from Malabar is the heaviest, while that from Burmah and Siam is much lighter ; in ship building its great weight largely offsets its durability, and it is therefore now custom- ary to use it only for planking. Various simi- lar woods are called teak; the African teak was long used in ship building before its origin was known; it is the genus Olclfieldia, of the euphorbia family. TEAL, the common name of the small riv- er ducks of the genera nettion (Kaup) and querquedula (Stephens), called sarcelles by the French. In the genus nettion the bill is as long as the head, straight, unusually narrow, with sides parallel, as high as broad at the base, the depressed tip with a very narrow nail; wings moderate and pointed, second quill the longest, and the secondaries lengthened and pointed ; tail moderate and wedge-shaped ; toes united by a full web, the hind one short and slighty lobed. There are about 20 species, distributed all over the globe, though most nu- merous in the northern hemisphere ; they are migratory, commencing their rapid flights in small flocks soon after sunset, resting by day on the surface of fresh water or the reedy shores of rivers and lakes, and feeding princi- pally at night on aquatic insects and worms, seeds, and grains ; the nest is made of a large mass of decayed vegetable matter lined with down, and the eggs are eight to ten ; they are highly esteemed as game. The European teal was domesticated by the Romans. The green- winged teal (N. Carolinemis, Baird) is 14 in. long, 22 to 24 in. in alar extent, and the bill If in. ; the head and neck are chestnut, the chin black, and the forehead dusky ; around tin- evs and on the sides of the head is a broad rich green stripe, passing into a bluish black patch on the nape ; below whifce, with rounded black spots on throat; lower neck, sides, and scapu- lars finely banded with black and grayish whito ; speculum on wings broad and rich green; a white crescent in front of bend of wings; under tail coverts .black, with a patch of buff white on each side; wing coverts plain olive- gray; in the female the under parts are white, and the upper dark brown with gray edgings. It occurs over the whole of North America, and accidentally in Europe ; it migrates prin- cipally over the land, breeding from the great lakes to the fur countries ; it runs well, is a good swimrner and diver, and a very rapid and graceful flier ; having a comparatively long neck, it feeds while swimming, and, being choice in its selection of food, affords a deli- cious flesh ; it is not very shy ; the eggs are If by If in., much rounded, dull yellowish with indistinct deeper tints. In the genus querque- dula the bill widens a little to the end, which is obtusely rounded, is higher than broad at base, has a wider nail and the lamellca visible on the sides. There are about half a dozen species in North America, Europe, and Asia, Green-winged Teal (Nettion Carolinensis). with habits similar to those of the other genus. The blue-winged teal (Q. discors, Steph.) is 16 in. long, 24 or 25 in. in alar extent, with a bill of 1 in. ; the head and neck above are plum- beous gray ; top of head black ; white crescent in front of eyes; under parts purplish gray, each feather spotted with black; fore part of back brownish with two narrow bands of purplish gray; back behind and tail greenish brown; under tail coverts black; outer webs of some of the scapulars and the wing coverts bright blue ; greater coverts tipped with white, with grass-green speculum below them; bill black ; in the female the top of the head is brown, chin and throat yellowish white, back brown with paler edgings, under parts whitish