CHAPTER XI 



DUCKS. PLOVER. SHORE BIRDS 



T TNDER the comprehensive title of ducks, some five- 

 ^ and-twenty species may be regarded as having 

 claim to the title British. These may be roughly divided 

 into two classes : i. Those feeding more or less from 

 the surface of the water, and upon land ; and, 2. those 

 obtaining much of their food by diving. 



In the first division are included : Sheldrake, Mallard, 

 Gadwall, Shoveller, Wigeon, Pintail, and Teal. These 

 ducks provide the bulk of the fowler's sport, and, it may 

 be added, by far the best of it. In the diving class there 

 are : Pochard, Scaup Duck, Tufted Duck, Golden-eye, 

 Long-tailed Duck, also three Eider Ducks and a similar 

 number of Scoters. 



THE SURFACE-FEEDING DUCKS. 



THE SHELDRAKE or SHELD-DUCK, Tadorna cornuta, 

 forms a connecting link between the geese and ducks, as 

 it combines certain of the characteristics of both tribes. 

 This bird has a variety of local names ; in certain parts 

 of the country it goes by the name Burrow Duck, from 

 its common habit of nesting in rabbit-burrows ; in Essex 

 and elsewhere along the east coast it is called Bar- 



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