THE SHELDRAKE 215 



waters, the sheldrake generally avoids them, preferring the open sea, 

 sandy beaches, and estuaries: occasionally, however, it will nest 

 inland, as on lochs in Scotland. 1 In parts of its range, as in Asia 

 east of the Caspian, salt lakes are frequented. The main factor in 

 determining these haunts is of course food. In their freshwater- 

 haunts this seems to consist mainly of small molluscs and aquatic 

 insects obtained from shallow water, and worms obtained from 

 pastures. Small fish, Crustacea, and molluscs form their staple diet 

 by the sea, and much of this food is sought for at low tide below high- 

 water mark. 



As with many of its relatives and the Gulls, the sheldrake pro- 

 cures marine-worms by rapidly beating the ground with its feet, which 

 apparently sets up vibrations, which drive the coveted morsels to the 

 surface. St. John, commenting on this fact, implies that dry sand 

 is thus tapped, but from my own observations only pools of water 

 are thus explored. But whatever the meal for the time being, 

 it is never procured by diving or from deep water; at most the 

 body is half-submerged by paddling with the feet, so that the hinder 

 half projects vertically from the water, as in the case of its surface- 

 feeding relatives and the Swans. Under the stress of great fear, 

 however, diving seems to be resorted to, both by young when striving 

 to evade capture and the adults when wounded or to avoid the stoop 

 of the peregrine. The flight of the sheldrake is likened by some to 

 that of the swan, by others to that of the goose, from which it is 

 clear that in this particular it differs conspicuously from that of 

 the more typical ducks. But neither on the wing nor at rest are 

 the bright chesnut colours of this bird visible save at close range ; 

 commonly the coloration appears to be simply black and white, 

 disposed in large and sharply defined patches, which, when a number 

 of birds are seen in full career, suggest nothing so much as a flock 

 of large butterflies. 



While feeding, the sheldrake is somewhat noisy, and the female 



1 R. B. Sharpe, "British Birds,' Lloyd's Natural History, vol. ii. p. 201. 



