316 BIRD-LIFE OF THE BORDERS 



garganeys appear some seasons in March : while this year 

 (1906) I recognised both the first-named species on 

 the lakes of East Equatorial Africa, in January and 

 February. Clearly our coast lies far north of their winter 

 range. 1 



The last of the surface-ducks regularly met with by 

 the coast-gunner are the sheld-ducks. They are resident, 

 breeding in the sand-links, and bringing down their young 

 into the water in July and August, and are more or less 

 common all the year round. But in autumn their numbers 

 are reinforced tenfold by arrivals from Scandinavia, and 

 in winter as many as two hundred may be seen in a pack, 

 though lesser numbers are more usual. Their favourite 

 haunts are the "mussel-scaps," or stretches of mixed sand 

 and mud, where various shell-fish abound, and a certain 

 amount of sea-grass and green weed grows. Such spots 

 they may frequent by day, moving actively about in search 

 of Crustacea, small shell-fish, and the like, keeping up 

 the while a constant low sibilant note. The night is, 

 however, their more regular feeding-time, and by day 

 they are commonly found passing away the hours at 

 rest on the wide open sands already described as a 

 favourite diurnal resort of the mallards. However 

 sleepy they may then appear, there is always a sentinel 

 on duty, even if their company be only four or five 

 strong, and it is seldom possible to approach within 



1 Fifty years ago, before drainage and reclamation had become general, 

 a pair of two of garganeys appeared, once in a decade, in Northumberland 

 —always at end of March ; but even in those days, no single instance of their 

 actually breeding here was ascertained. Had they done so, both old and 

 young would have quitted this country by the end of July, or early in August, 

 for the garganey is even less tolerant of cold than the teal. Of the gadwall, 

 only two occurrences have been recorded during the best part of a century 

 — both these in winter. 



