246 BEITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



SHELDRAKE. Also Common Sheldeake or 

 BuKEow Duck. 



Description of Parent Birds. — Length twenty- 

 four to twenty-six inches ; bill fairly long, thick 

 at the base, depressed in the middle, slightly 

 hooked at the tip, and red in colour. On the 

 top of the upper mandible, at the base, is a large 

 fleshy knob. Irides reddish-brown. Head and 

 upper parts of neck dark green ; lower half of 

 neck white all round; upper parts of breast and 

 back, rump, wing, and upper tail-coverts white ; 

 scapulars and a portion of secondaries blackish ; 

 outer webs of inner secondaries rich chestnut. 

 On the last-named feathers is a patch of rich 

 purple green ; primaries almost black ; tail-quills 

 white, except at the tips where they are black ; 

 in the middle of the lower breast and belly the 

 feathers are dark brown ; sides, flanks, vent, and 

 lower tail-coverts white ; legs, toes, and webs 

 flesh-colour. 



The female is rather smaller and duller in colour. 



Situation and Localitij. — Rabbit burrows are the 

 favourite haunts of this bird, although it is said 

 sometimes to dig its own burrow or adopt that of 

 a fox or badger ; holes under rocks and ruins at 

 various depths, sometimes four or five feet in, at 

 others as many as twelve. In low sand-hills and 

 dunes at various suitable places on the east and 

 west coasts, such as Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, 

 Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland, Lancashire, 

 and Cheshire ; on various parts of the coast of 

 Scotland, Orkney Islands, Hebrides, and Ireland. 

 Our illustration w^as obtained in the Hebrides. 



Materials. — Dry grass, bents, and down from 



