102 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



quantities. At such times it frequents the open sands, particularly in the estuaries, 

 in company with Wigeon and Mallard. It is (excepting Geese) the most wary 

 of all the fowl, and will frequently not allow a punt to approach within three- 

 hundred yards. In February another large increase takes place, when the breeding 

 birds return to their summer haunts, and from thence to September they are one 

 of the most numerous birds on the shore. From the middle of October to tnc 

 end of November the Sheld-Duck is entirely absent from the coast. The first 

 clutches of young generally appear about the end of May or early in June, and 

 heavy weather at this time produces great mortality amongst them. The old 

 remain with the young for a very short time, and young broods are often to be 

 seen alone, or with forty to fifty young and one pair of old birds. 



During winter the Sheld-Duck feeds at night, but iu summer it feeds at low 

 water both during the day and night. Large numbers of non-breeding birds spend 

 the summer on the coast. They are very noisy birds, and the harsh quack or 

 laugh of the female, and whistle of the male, is heard both day and night in 

 spring, and there is much fighting amongst the males at this season. It is a poor 

 diver, and rarely goes under water, even when wounded." 



Generally speaking the Sheld-Duck is a summer visitor only to the Hebrides 

 and western coasts of Scotland, but on the east coast of Great Britain it is more 

 or less a resident throughout the year. In Low's time (1770-1800) common in 

 Orkney, but leaving in winter. Saxby mentions only three instances of its 

 occurrence in Shetland, at Balta Sound. In many places where, within the last 

 half-century, the Sheld-Duck was common, it is now rare or altogether banished, 

 but where its chosen locality is preserved, it still nourishes, and is even on the 

 increase. 



It may be predicted with tolerable certainty that the first loafer that discovers 

 a Sheld-Duck's burrow, or nesting hole, will take the eggs to eat or put them 

 under a hen ; and as year by year the coast becomes less quiet and more disturbed 

 by excursionists, it is only under the special conditions enforced by County 

 Councils, or by private preserving, that this most beautiful Duck can continue to 

 bring off its young ; where they are not disturbed in the nesting season, they 

 become very tame, and will permit a very close approach with indifference. 



On the Lincolnshire coast this species is called " Shell-Duck," in Essex " Bar- 

 Gander," a corruption of " Bergander," a word derived from high German ; com- 

 monly it is known as " Burrow " Duck, from its nesting habits ; and from its 

 cunning, " Sly-Goose," in Orkney. There has been considerable dispute as to the 

 meaning of the word " Sheld "-Duck as applied to this bird. The late Mr. Stevenson, 

 with much reason, clears this up by a reference to a very small and scarce volume 



