34:2 THE BIRDS OF SUSSEX. 



RUDDY SHELDRAKE. 



Tadorna casarca. 



Only one specimen of this rare visitant has been procured 

 in Sussex, though it has occurred, in other counties, some 

 half-dozen times altogether. 



Selby (vol. vii. p. 293, Brit. Orn.) mentions that the first 

 British example was obtained at Bryanstou, near Bland- 

 ford, Dorset, in the severe winter of 1776, and is now in the 

 Newcastle Museum. In Mr. Dresser's ^ Birds of Europe' 

 (vol. vi. p. 464) it is stated that the author was informed 

 by a collector of Mr. Moschler, in Southern Russia, as 

 follows : — " The Ruddy Sheldrake breeds here in the hollow 

 trees ; and the male perches on a branch of the same tree 

 in which the female is sitting and gives warning in case of 

 danger ; and the female leaves her eggs when warned and 

 both birds fly round. Should anyone approach with a dog, 

 the Duck will flj^ close to the latter, and can then be shot ; 

 but if once missed they are careful to keep well out of 

 range.'' Mr. Dresser also states that Mr. Salvin and Canon 

 Tristram found it breeding in Algeria, in clefts in the cliffs ; 

 and that the nest itself consists merely of down plucked 

 from the breast of the bird. In Yarrell (vol. iv. p. 349) the 

 Ruddy Sheldrake is said to make its nest sometimes in the 

 middle of a cornfield, or in a marmot burrow on the plains. 



The Sussex specimen to which I have alluded, was shot 

 on September 3rd, 1890, near Harting, and was taken to 

 the vicar, Mr. Gordon, who sent it for preservation to 

 Mr. Pratt, of Brighton, where I saw it. It is a female, 

 undergoing the usual autumnal change of plumage, a few 

 freshly coloured feathers appearing about the neck and 

 breast, Mr. Gordon informed me that it appeared to be in 



