354 ANATID^. 



70° N. lat., and, abundantly, in Sweden, Denmark, and on 

 the coasts and islands of the Baltic. It is said to nest 

 occasionally on the sandy shores of some of the inland 

 waters of Germany, and also of Russia. It breeds in 

 Holland, especially on the North Frisian Islands ; also 

 on the coasts of France ; and, sparingly, in the Iberian 

 Peninsula. Prof. Giglioli thinks that a few remain to breed 

 in Italy, where the bird is by no means rare during the 

 colder portions of the year; and it occurs on passage in 

 Malta and other islands of the Mediterranean, and throughout 

 the entire basin of that inland sea ; although on the southern 

 and eastern portions it is, as a rule, less abundant than the 

 Ruddy Sheld-Duck, which is there the representative species. 

 Eastwards its range extends across the temperate portions of 

 Asia as far as Japan ; it is believed to breed in Mongolia ; 

 and its winter visits to China and India extend about as far 

 south as the Tropic of Cancer. 



The Sheld-Duck breeds, as already stated, in some kind of 

 burrow, which often describes an imperfect circle ; the nest 

 being sometimes ten or twelve feet from the entrance. It 

 is composed of bents of grass, and is gradually lined, during 

 the progress of laying, with fine soft down, little inferior to 

 that of the Eider Duck, and collected in some places for its 

 commercial value. The eggs are of a smooth shining white, 

 and measure about 2-75 by 1"9 in. The nest may some- 

 times be discovered by the print of the owner's feet on the 

 sand, but the wary bird will often fly straight into the 

 entrance without alighting outside. The old bird is some- 

 times taken by a snare set at the mouth of the burrow, and 

 the eggs being hatched under domestic hens, the birds thus 

 obtained are kept as an ornament on ponds. 



On the North Frisian Islands, according to Mr. Durn- 

 ford, the natives make artificial burrows in the sand hillocks, 

 and cut a hole in the turf over the passage, covering it with 

 a sod, so as to disclose the nest when eggs are required. 

 There are sometimes as many as a dozen or fifteen nests in 

 one hillock within the compass of eight or nine yards. The 

 eggs are taken up to the 18th of June, after which the birds 



