EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 37 



gration took place. The European range of the Ruddy Sheldrake 

 does not extend nearly so far north as that of the Comnion Shel- 

 drake. It is resident in the basins of the Mediterranean and 

 Black Seas, and to the east of the Ural Mountains. It breeds 

 throughout Persia, Turkestan, and Southern Siberia, but not 

 further north than Lake Baikal and the Valley of the Amoor. 



The Ruddy Sheldrake sometimes nests in a burrow, frequently 

 in a hollow tree or in a hole in a fallen log. Salvin in Algeria, 

 and Tristram in Palestine, found it nesting in the crevices of 

 the cliffs, and Dybowski took the eggs in Dauria out of deserted 

 nests of Birds of Prey. It is a somewhat early breeder. The 

 eggs, sixteen to eighteen in number, are creamy-white in colour, 

 and are absolutely indistinguishable from those of the Common 

 Sheldrake. They vary in length from 2"78 to 26 inches, and in 

 breadth from 2"0 to 1'7 inch. 



THE GADWALL. 



(Anas strepera.)* 



Plate 14, Fig. 3. 



The Gadwall is a winter visitor to the United Kingdom, but 

 breeds regularly in some parts of Norfolk. It is a circumpolar 

 Duck, but its range does not extend into the Arctic Regions, though 

 a few breed as far north as Iceland. It nests throughout 

 temperate Europe, Asia, and North America, wintering to the 

 southward. The nest is placed under some convenient bush, or 

 beneath the shelter of a tuft of coarse grass or rushes, at no great 

 distance from the water's edge. It is a mere depression in the 

 ground, probably scratched out by the female, and lined with a 

 little dry grass, bits of reed or rush, and, in some cases, with a few 

 dead leaves. The eggs are laid in May, frequently not before the 

 end of the month. They are from eight to twelve in number, 

 smooth in texture, and slightly glossy. They vary in length from 

 2"15 to 195 inch, and in breadth from 1*55 to 1"4 inch. In 

 colour they do not differ from those of the Wigeon, being generally 

 bumsh-white or cream-colour, though Naumann says that they 

 are slightly tinged with olive — probably both types occur. 



* Chaulelasmus streperus — Sharpe, Ffandb., II., p. 273. 



