33 



Case 196. 



SHELD-DUCK {Tadoma comuta). 

 Local name : Barrow Duck. 



A resident species not uncommon on suitable parts of tlie coast of 

 Great Britain and Ireland. Low sand-hills and mud flats are its 

 favourite haunts, where small molluscs, crustaceans, marine insects and 

 other kinds of food are plentiful. In Lancashire, Formby sand-hills, 

 the warrens near the Ribble and Walney Island are some of the nesting 

 sites. Although the plumage is very similar in both sexes, the colours 

 of the male are brighter and more defined. The nest is generally 

 placed inside a rabbit burrow some feet from the entrance, and is made 

 of bents with a thick lining of down from the breast of the female. 

 Seven to twelve cream-coloured eggs (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, 

 drawer 11) are laid in May, and although the drake takes no part in 

 incubation, he remains in the vicinity of the nest. 



Case 197. 



RED-BREASTED MERGANSER [Mergus serrator). 



A winter visitor in considerable numbers to the larger estuaries in 

 England and Wales, but in Scotland and Ireland it is resident and breeds 

 more or less plentifully on the fresh-water lochs and on many parts of 

 the coast. It is an expert diver, and feeds chiefly on trout, young 

 salmon and other small fishes. The nest usually consists of a hollow 

 in the ground thickly lined with down, but it is sometimes placed in an 

 old burrow. It is usually well concealed among heather or long grass. 

 The eggs, rarely more than ten in number, are laid towards the end of 

 May, and are of a greenish-buff colour (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, 

 drawer 14). The female undertakes the entire duties of incubation. 



Case 198. 



OYSTER-CATCHER {Hcematopus ostralegus). 



A common resident, frequenting the shores of the British Islands, 

 lant more numerous during the colder months of the year, when its 

 numbers are increased by migrants from the continent. Its food 

 consists mainly of mussels, whelks and limpets, which are extracted 

 from their shells by the bird's powerful bill. No nest is made, but 

 a slight hollow is usually scraped in the sand or shingle, on the sea- 

 shore above high-water mark, or on the stony beds of rivers. The 

 eggs, generally three in number, are pale brownish-buff, spotted and 

 streaked with dark brown and ash-grey (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, 

 drawer 20). 



