170 SHIELDRAKE. 
and breeds in a rabbit-warren on the sand-hills of the sea- 
bank in that parish. In Cornwall, it has been met with 
at Gwyllyn Vase and Swanpool, near Falmouth, but rarely. 
In Oxfordshire, they occur in most years, in the neighbourhood 
of Weston-on-the-Green, as stated by the Revs. Andrew and 
Henry Matthews; likewise in Dorsetshire and Hampshire. In 
Norfolk they are not uncommon, and breed among the low 
sand-hills on the coast. 
They occur in Ireland, and are indigenous, but rather rare; 
also on the shores of Scotland, quite to the north. In Orkney, 
too, they arrive early in the spring, and remain tiil the autumn, 
a few only staying throughout the winter. 
Their proper home is the neighbourhood of the sea, but 
they are occasionally, and not very unfrequently, met with 
inland. ‘They remain with us throughout the year, and always 
in pairs. They move southwards in the autumn, returning 
to the north in the spring; the former in September, and 
the latter in March. 
A. E. Knox, Esq. mentions that a friend of his knew a brood 
of young Shieldrakes at Sandringham, in Norfolk, come from 
the rabbit-burrow in which they had been bred, at the whistle 
of the gamekeeper, to receive food. If the nest be approached 
by an unwelcome intruder, the young ones hide themselves: 
‘the tender mother drops at no great distance from her 
helpless brood, trails herself along the ground, flaps it with 
her wings, and appears to struggle as if she was wounded, in 
order to attract attention, and tempt a pursuit after her. 
Should these wily schemes, in which she is aided by her mate, 
succeed, they both return when the danger is over, to their 
terrified motionless little offspring, to renew the tender offices 
of cherishing and protecting them.’ When however the young 
are older, they fly straight away from them, as if aware 
that by diving and otherwise they could then better take care 
of themselves, as indeed is the fact. The young broods collect 
together, it seems, in troops of from thirty to forty, accom- 
panied by the old birds. 
This species, though naturally extremely wild, is very 
readily brought into a state of domestication, and will come 
to a call. Some that have wandered away have returned 
even after an absence of several months. ‘The richness of 
its well-contrasted plumage renders it a great ornament. 
They have been known to breed in the reclaimed state, but 
not often: one at Lord Derby’s paired with a duck. 
