

SHIELDRAKE. NATATOBES. TADORNA. 291 



lameness and inability of flight, in order to attract attention 

 and divert the pursuit to themselves. As the Shieldrake is 

 much prized as an ornamental appendage to large pieces of 

 water, for its handsome form and varied plumage, the in- 

 habitants of the coast are in the practice of watching the old 

 birds to their nests during the early part of the breeding 

 season, and digging up the eggs. These are placed under 

 a hen or tame duck ; but great care and attention is requisite 

 in rearing the young, and it is seldom that above three or 

 four survive from a hatching of a dozen eggs. They soon be- 

 come tolerably tame, and answer to the call of the person who 

 feeds them ; when fully fledged, however, being very active 

 birds, they are apt to stray away, and if left with their pinions 

 unmutilated, generally in time fly entirely off', though I have 

 known them return, in two or three instances, after an absence 

 of many months. They are seldom known to breed in a 

 state of confinement ; one instance, and that in my own 

 neighbourhood, has come to my knowledge, and MONTAGU 

 mentions another case, in which the birds, after a lapse of 

 many years, and in a very favourable situation (having the 

 range of an extensive canal), produced a brood of nine. 

 The defect rests, in his opinion, with the female, as she con- 

 stantly appears coy, although strongly urged by the other 

 sex, who seem to have all the necessary inclination ; and this, 

 he adds, appears more likely, as the Shieldrake has been 

 known to breed with the female of the Common Duck, in 

 Lord Stanley^ menagerie. Such a cross, however, is rarely 

 effected, and only takes place under peculiar circumstances, 

 as I have never been able to obtain a mixed progeny, even 

 when the species have been kept together for several years. 

 Upon the approach of spring, the fleshy knot at the base of 

 the upper mandible of this bird, and which, during the 

 autumn and winter, is scarcely perceptible, begins to swell, 

 and acquires a beautiful crimson hue, and when at its full 

 development, is nearly as large as a marble. At this season, 

 also, the males pay particular court to the females, erecting 



