DUCKS 



2107 



Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, and visiting India and the adjacent countries 

 in winter, but quite unknown in the New World. 



The handsomest and, in Europe, the best-known representatives of 

 Sheldrake ^ e & enus * s tne common sheldrake, or burrow duck (71 cornuta], 

 which is sufficiently characterized by the head and neck being dark 

 glossy green, below which is a broad collar of white, followed by a band of rich 

 chestnut extending across the back and breast, the remainder of the plumage being 

 mainly black and white, with the speculum of the wing marked by green and chest- 

 nut on the secondaries. The beak is red, while the legs and toes are flesh pink. 



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COMMON SHELDRAKE. 



(One-fifth natural size.) 



The usual length is about twenty-five inches. The sheldrake is essentially an inhab- 

 itant of the temperate regions of the northern half of the Old World, being a resi- 

 dent throughout the year in the British Islands, and scarcely ever penetrating 

 within either the Arctic Circle or the Tropics. From Britain its range extends to 

 Japan, where it is a winter visitor, and the limits of its migration include Persia, 

 Northwestern India, and North Africa, while it breeds not only in Europe, but in 

 Southern Siberia, Mongolia, Turkestan, etc. Essentially a coast bird in Europe, 

 in India the sheldrake is more commonly found on inland waters, although it 



