RUDDY SHELDRAKE 



307 



times under the designation Casarca casarca — it would be much better 

 if it had an entirely distinct English name, more especially as it is 

 practically a uniformly coloured, and not a parti-coloured ("sheld") bird. 

 In India it is universally known as the brahminy duck, and it would 

 be much better if this name were generally recognised in Europe as 

 the proper title of the group. 



In general characters the brahminy ducks (of which there are four 

 species) agree very closely with the sheldrakes, properly so called. 

 They have, for instance, a short and rounded tail of fourteen feathers. 

 On the other hand, 

 the beak shows little 

 concavity in the 

 profile of its upper 

 half and is thus 

 nearly straight, while 

 the " nail " is less 

 hooked inferiorly. 

 In the case of the 

 present, and typical, 

 species there is but 

 slight difference in 

 the colouring of the 

 two sexes, and little 

 seasonal change in 

 this respect in either 

 sex ; but this is not 

 a constant character- 

 istic of the genus, 



since in the other three species (all of which arc natives of the southern 

 hemisphere) the sexes are wholly different in colouring, and in one of 

 them at least the drake has a distinct non-breeding plumage. This 

 is very interesting, as it indicates the specialised character of the 

 northern representative of the genus. 



In the typical species the general colour is tawny chestnut in the 

 male, lightest on the head and darkest on the under-parts ; in the 

 breeding-season the neck has a narrow black collar, and the lower part 

 of the back is marked by a narrow dusky grey line, passing into black 

 glossed with green on the tail ; the rudiments of a wing-" speculum " 

 are represented by a wash of green and bronze on the outer webs of 

 the secondary quills ; and the back and legs are black, and the eyes 

 nearly so. The black collar, which is developed in March, disappears 



MOUNTED IN THE ROWLAND WARD STUDIOS 



KL'DDV SHELDRAKE 



