148 THE BIRDS OF DORSET. 



the wildest of birds until half-starved by the freezing 



of the shellfish, and then they became the tamest of all 



\ wild-fowl." Being very handsome birds in their adult 



r T garb of black, white, and chestnut, they are often 



I kept, with other ornamental water-fowl, on private 



j^ water; but the young are troublesome to rear. 



w Colonel Hawker writes : — " You may keep young 



^ ' Burrow-ducks ' for five or six weeks, provided you 



give them crumbs of bread and only a little water 



three times a day. But if you let them get into the 



water, or even drink too much before they are full 



V grown and fit to be turned out on your pond, you 



^S are almost sure to kill them. This appears quite 



a paradox with birds that in their wild state are 



always in the water ; but such is the case." ^ 



jf^ Occasionally in hard weather the Sheldrake wan- 



^ ders inland, and is sometimes shot at some distance 



^ from the coast. One in Viscount Portman's collec- 



^ tion was shot at Bryanston in the month of January ; 



^ another was killed at Berwick Farm, Burton Brad- 



» J stock; a third was killed at Weymouth in November; 



^ and an adult mule at Lodmoor in February 1870. 



V In June 1884 a brood was seen on the Arne sand- 



^ banks ; and a flock of them frequented Littlesea 



in July 1885. 



^ 

 ^ 



^ " Instructions to Young Sportsmen in all that Relates to Guns and 

 Shooting," ed. 1859, pp. 220, 221. 



