WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA. 7% 
The colouration is very striking, being almost the 
gayest found in any Duck. It is mostly white, but the 
head is black-green, the wings white, black, green and 
chestnut, as in the Brahminy ; a broad belt of chestnut 
goes right round the body at the shoulders and lower 
breast, and the scapulars, tip of tail, and a broad band 
down the centre of belly below the breast band are black. 
The stern is chestnut like the breast, but paler. 
The billis scarlet, and the legs flesh-pink. The female 
is like the male, but duller. 
The young differ from both 1n having no green on the 
head, which is brownish black marked with white on 
the face, and there is no chestnut or black below ; more- 
over the markings above are dull, and the bill and feet 
pale livid fleshy. But they are recognizably like their 
parents. The eyes are always dark. 
The male is about two feet long, with a wing of 
thirteen inches, and bill and shank about two and-a- 
quarter. Females are smaller. 
The Sheldrake breeds in the north temperate parts of 
Europe and Asia, migrating south in winter. At this 
season it is found in Northern India from the Indus 
Valley to Assam, and occurs also in Upper Burma. It 
is usually rare, but fairly common in places in Sind. 
It is essentially a sea-coast bird as a rule ; hence pro- 
bably its rarity in India, though it is more common than 
is supposed ; I used to see one or more in the Calcutta 
bazaar every year. As it is very bad eating, and quite 
unmistakable when once seen, it should, I think, be 
spared by sportsmen, if only on account of its remark- 
able beauty of form, colour, and movement. It does 
not bear captivity well in India, though thriving in 
Europe. The male has a large, double ,very thin, bony 
bulb in the windpipe, and his note is a whistle, while 
the female barks and quacks. It nests in burrows, 
either made by itself or appropriated from rabbits, and 
lays about a dozen yellowish-white eggs. 
