RUDDY SHELD-DUCK. 



AN SERES. 



347 



ANATIDjE. 



Tadorna casarca (Linnaeus*). 

 THE RUDDY SHELD-DUCK. 



Tadorna rutila. 



Tadorna, Flemin()-\. — Beak about the length of the head, higher than broad 

 at the base, depressed or concave in the middle ; breadth nearly equal through- 

 out ; under mandible much narrower than the upper, the latter grooved near 

 the tip ; nail decurved, forming a hook ; both mandibles furnished with thin 

 transverse lamell». Nasal groove near the base of the beak ; nostrils oval, 

 lateral, pervious. Legs moderate; the tibia naked for a short space above the 

 tarsal joint ; toes three in front, entirely webbed ; one behind free. Wings of 

 moderate length, the second quill-feather the longest. The sexes nearly alike in 

 plumage. 



The Author has adopted the genus Tadorna, instituted 

 by Fleming, for the reception of the Sheld-Ducks, a well- 

 marked Old World group consisting of seven known species, 

 and especially abundant in the Indian and Australian 

 regions. In some respects its members resemble the Geese, 



• Anas Casarca, Linnajus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, iii. App. p. 224 (1768). 

 t Philosophy of Zoology, ii. p. 260 (1822). 



