340 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



Genus TADORNA, or Sheldrakes. 



Type, TADOENA COENUTA. 



Tadorna, of Fleming (1822). The birds comprising the present genus are 

 characterised by their white carpal region of the wing, which is also swollen into 

 a hard feathered protuberance ; by their rather long metatarsus (nearly as long as 

 the middle toe and claw), and by their prevailing and usually strongly contrasted 

 colours of black, white, and chestnut. The wings are long and ample, the second 

 primary the longest. The bill is broader towards the tip than at the base, the 

 lamellffi equally developed along the inner edge of the upper mandible, those on 

 the lower mandible not projecting outwardly ; the unguis decurved and hooked ; 

 nostrils oval, sub-basal. Three toes in front webbed ; hind toe small. Sexes 

 similar in colour. 



This genus is composed of two species, breeding in the temperate portions of 

 the Palaearctic region, and in the Australian region ; Oriental region chiefly in 

 winter. One species is British, a common resident in our Islands. 



The Sheldrakes are dwellers on sea-coasts, and on salt lakes and marshes. 

 They are birds of rather slow and laboured flight, progressing by slow, regular 

 beats of the wings, like Swans. They also swim and walk with ease. Their 

 notes are harsh and unmusical. They subsist on both animal and vegetable 

 substances. They breed in holes of trees, in rocks, or in the ground, and their 

 eggs are numerous and creamy- white. They are monogamous, pair probably for 

 life, and the male bird shares the duty of tending the eggs and young. They are 

 more or less gregarious and sociable, especially during winter. 



