104 RUDDY SHEILDRAKE. 



of the neck being white, the crown and back of 

 the neck blackish brown. 



THE RUDDY SELEILDRAKE, TADORNA RUTILA. 

 A. rutila, Pall. Ruddy or Casarka Sheildrake of 

 British authors. Three specimens of this rare and 

 handsome duck are all on which we can rest its 

 claim as British ; the first and original one, a fe- 

 male, is now in the Newcastle Museum, it was 

 killed in Dorsetshire ; another, that which served 

 Mr. Selby for his Illustrations, is now in that gentle- 

 man's collection; and the third was shot in 1834 upon 

 the Sussex coast. It is also a rare bird in Central 

 and Southern Europe, but seems to stretch to the 

 east and across the Asiatic boundary. It is " abun- 

 dant at Erzeroom, frequents marshes during the day, 

 but feeds late in the evening and early in the morn- 

 ing in corn and stubble fields ;" great numbers on 

 the Lake Van in August." * Found also on the 

 Indian Peninsula, on the authority of both Colonel 

 Sykes and Mr. Jerdan ; the latter remarks, " This 

 large duck is less common towards the south than 

 in the more northern parts of the Peninsula. Is 

 frequently seen in pairs, or small parties of four, 

 five, or six, but occasionally, as in the Chilka Lake, 

 in numerous flocks of some hundreds ; only found, 

 so far as I can learn, in the Peninsula during the 

 cold weather ."t 



* Dickson and Ross, quoted from Yarrell. 

 f Madras Journal of Science for 1840. 



