i6o THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



Family ANATID.'E. Genus Tadorna. 



Sub-family ANATIN.^. 



RUDDY SHELDRAKE. 



Tadorna casarca [Linncezis). 



(British : Rare abnormal autumn and winter migrant.) 



Single Brooded. Laying season, April and May. 



Breeding area : Southern Palaearctic region and 

 North-eastern Ethiopian region. The Ruddy Sheldrake 

 breeds sparingly in the south of Spain and in North Africa 

 from Morocco to Egypt. North of the Mediterranean 

 it breeds south of the valley of the Danube and east 

 of the Adriatic, and in Southern Russia. Eastwards 

 in Asia it breeds throughout Persia, Turkestan, and 

 Southern Siberia as far north as the Baikal area and the 

 valley of the Amoor. It is said also to breed in Japan. 



Breeding habits : In Europe the Ruddy Sheldrake 

 is sedentary, but in Asia, where the climate of its breed- 

 ing area is more rigorous, it leaves its summer haunts 

 to winter in China, Burma, and India. It reaches its 

 northern breeding grounds again in April or early May, 

 migrating in flocks, but separating into scattered pairs 

 for the nesting season. The Ruddy Sheldrake pairs for 

 life. The favourite haunts of this species are reed- 

 fringed rivers in which sandy islands occur, and which 

 flow over wide fertile plains, also lagoons, and less 

 frequently bare mountainous districts often far from 

 water. The nest is made in a great variety of places, but 

 almost invariably in a covered site. Sometimes holes in 

 cliff's are selected, or burrows and clefts in the ground, 

 even in the centre of a cornfield ; whilst holes in trees 

 and logs, and the deserted nests of birds of prey, are also 

 chosen. Prjevalsky mentions fire-places in the houses 



