Birds of Britain 



day and come in to feed on the soft ooze by night ; they 

 are of course more partial to flat and sandy parts of the 

 coast, but may nevertheless often be found in small sandy 

 bays on an otherwise rocky shore. 



The head and neck are glossy bluish black ; the scapulars 

 and primaries black. There is a broad band of bright 

 chestnut across the back and breast, and a black stripe 

 along the centre of the under parts. Speculum green. 

 The rest of the plumage is pure white. Legs flesh pink ; 

 bill crimson. The sexes are alike, but the female is smaller 

 and duller. The male has a crimson knob at the base of his 

 bill which swells up considerably during the breeding season. 



The young bird lacks the chestnut band, the head and 

 neck are dull brownish black, the scapulars greyish brown, 

 and in its first autumn it assumes a plumage similar to the 

 adult female, but duller. Length 25 in. ; wing 13 in. 

 Both sexes assume in July a much duller plumage, some- 

 what resembling that of the young in their first winter. 



THE RUDDY SHELD-DUCK 



Tadorna casarca (Linnaeus) 



The Euddy Sheld-Duck is a South-eastern European 

 species, breeding on the shores of the Levant and throughout 

 Northern Africa, but it is rare on the north shores of the 

 Mediterranean west of the Adriatic. It has several times 

 been noted as a straggler to England, and in 1892 many 

 flocks appeared in different parts of the country. 



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