RUDDY SHELD-DL'CK. 2$ 



Even those who do not know the Ruddy Sheldrake (Plate 12) 

 in captivity cannot fail to identify the bird ; its orange-brown 

 and buff plumage, and the square white patch which shows 

 plainly on its open wing, are distinctive. On the water it swims 

 with the breast and fore parts low and the stern high, showing 

 a raised and rounded lower back above the deep counter of its 

 black tail and coverts ; the neck is carried well erect. On the 

 wing it is heavy and slow. It has a loud double call and a 

 barking cry. In India, where it is common in the cooler months 

 and is known as the Brahminy Duck, it is rather troublesome in 

 growing crops, and in our parks and public gardens it walks 

 easily, cropping the grass like a goose ; insects, worms, and 

 frogs are also eaten. 



I have watched the bird on a Cheshire mere early in July, 

 and from its behaviour and the time of its appearance it may 

 have been a wild visitor ; but Lord Newton, who has a number 

 of unpinioned birds in his park at Lyme, tells me that they get 

 restless in summer and often wander off in August and return, 

 if allowed, in October. Though a month earlier than the usual 

 time of this semi-migratory movement, it is possible that it had 

 wandered from Lyme, for in the same summer three were shot 

 in the neighbourhood, and some of Lord Newton's birds never 

 returned. 



The general colour of the adult male is orange-brown, paler 

 below ; the head is buff, there is a black neck collar, and the 

 wing-coverts are white. When swimming the white is hidden 

 by the scapulars, but in flight shows plainly a large square 

 patch. The speculum is bronze-green. The legs are blackish, 

 the bill lead-grey, the irides yellowish brown. The female and 

 young male have no black collar, and it is asserted that the 

 male loses this distinctive mark in winter. Length, 25 ins. 

 Wing, I4"5 ins. Tarsus, 2-25 ins. 



