124 OUR RESIDENT BIRDS 



breast and belly, which are brown. Legs and feet pink. 

 Length 26 in. Female, minus the knob at the base of 

 bill, and colouring not so bright. Young : head and 

 neck blackish ; wings and under parts white ; bill 

 flesh-pink ; legs and feet lead-colour. Young in down : 

 dark brown above and white below. Forehead and 

 cheeks white. 



Language. A harsh cry or quack ; in the breeding 

 season the male utters a whistling note. 



Habits. It walks fairly well, and without the familiar 

 N\ addle of the duck. In flight it somewhat resembles the 

 Geese, rapid and direct, with neck outstretched. 



Food. Mollusca and Crustacea chiefly, also various 

 marine insects. 



Nest. May. One brood. 



Site. In an old rabbit-hole, but often in a burrow 

 excavated in a sand-dune by the bird, sometimes as much 

 as six or eight feet in (hence Burrow Duck). 



