;8o 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



brown and on the other with white, and give 

 a very handsome appearance. Under the 

 tail is black. The female is a plain bird, not 

 unlike the female Mallard. In habits the 

 birds resemble the Mandarins. 



The Falcated duck has similar hackle- 

 like appendages to the wings. The drake is 

 ir,ost beautifully pencilled all over the body 

 \\ ith black on a silver-grey ground ; the head 

 purple, beautifully glossed with green, and 

 having a crest of the same colour ; the throat 

 white, below which is a collar of green, and 

 below that another ring of white. We have 

 only seen one pair, which was at Manchester 

 many years ago, and we are not sure they 

 have yet been bred in this country. 



The Shieldrakes, or Sheldrakes {Kasarkas), 

 are large birds. Both the Common British 

 Shieldrake and the Ruddy Shieldrake are hardy, 

 handsome, readily domesticated, and 

 The can be fed in a farmyard with other 



Shieldrakes. poultry, though apt to be a trifle 

 spiteful now and then, which seems 

 general in the family. They also do well in a 

 garden, if there is even a very small pond. The 

 wild birds often nest in rabbit-holes ; farm-reared 

 ones may nest almost anywhere, and may some- 

 times be seen in the act of carrying their 

 young to the water in their bills. They are 

 not well adapted to excessively small runs. 



Of foreign Shieldrakes, the best known is the 

 Paradise duck {K. variegata) of New Zealand, 

 remarkable for the extraordinary difference be- 

 tween the colours of the two sexes. The drake's 

 head is glossy green black, while the duck's is 

 pure white : his body is mainly a dark pencilled 

 grey, with deep bronze stern ; she has a great 

 deal of white and red, with some of the pen- 

 cilled grey intermingled. This duck often took 

 prizes some years ago. A larger and more 

 beautiful bird is the Australian K. tadornoides. 

 The drake has dark hazel eyes and a black 

 beak, black head and neck, below which 

 comes a clean white collar, then succeeds a 

 ruddy brown, gradually lightening; round the 

 top of back and centre of breast another white 

 collar runs completely. The body is mainly a 

 silvery grey ; the wings white on the shoulder, 

 blue in the bar, and black in the flights, 

 with a curious expanded feather on each 

 side in the same place as the Mandarin's fan, 

 but lying flat over the rump, and chestnut in 

 colour with a white edge. This is perhaps the 

 noblest in appearance of all the ducks. 



The largest of the Shieldrakes is known as 

 the Egyptian Goose, which is not a goose at all, 

 though known as such for hundreds of years. 



Years ago we noted its affinity to the Shiel- 

 drakes, and that it had bred with even common 

 ducks ; it bred with Shieldrakes at Regent's 

 Park Gardens in 18S7, and again in 1901 

 similar hybrids were produced in one of the 

 London parks, we think the St. James's. It 

 has been seen flying at large in England. It is 

 tame, but quarrelsome in a yard, and does best on 

 the water of a park, where it will breed freely. 



The drakes of this family do not moult into 

 female plumage in the summer. 



The Pintail family i^Dafild] are named from 

 their long pointed tails. The Common Pintail 

 is a British bird, the drake being distinguished 

 by long pointed shoulder- hackles, 

 The which are black edged with pale 



Pintails. buff. The head is dark brown with 



bronze or purple gloss, the breast 

 white, tail black, back and flanks silver-grey, 

 formed by beautiful fine black pencilling on 

 white ground ; the wing - bar brilliant green. 

 The bill is lead colour. The female is brown, 

 edged with lighter colour. This duck breeds 

 freely, and often hybridises with others. 



There are two foreign varieties often seen. 

 The Chilian Pintail is small, very long and slim 

 in shape, and rich but quiet in colour, varying 

 from chestnut to fawn, the drake's back being 

 brown edged with black, and his wing-bar blue. 

 The most beautiful and popular is the Bahama 

 Pintail, which is a perching bird where it has a 

 chance. The bill and feet are lead colour, the 

 head deep glossy brown, the general colour 

 cinnamon, passing on the breast to greyer colour 

 spotted with black, the tail deep bronzy cinna- 

 mon, the shoulder feathers black edged with 

 chestnut ; both sexes are nearly alike. This 

 pretty duck is hardy and prolific, and, as already 

 noted, will range over a farm. 



Of the Whistling ducks {Dendrocygna) 

 only two varieties are commonly seen, and 

 may be mentioned as specially adapted, from 

 their tameness, to be kept in any 



Whistling 



small grass run with a little 



Ducks. pond at the bottom of a garden, 



requiring no special privacy to 

 thrive. They do not, however, breed well in 

 this climate, and require a tight shed or house 

 in the winter. 



The Widow duck {D. viduata = " little 

 widow ") has rather long, thin, lead coloured legs, 

 and stands very upright, the feet having less web 

 and more claw than usual. The bill is nearly 

 black, the head from base of bill to behind the 

 eyes white; back of head and neck black, with a 

 patch of white rather below the throat; all along 



