WILD DUCKS AND DUCK DECOYING 141 



them. An anecdote is related of how a country lad 

 having fallen in with a brood of teal drove them 

 before him to a lodge. The mother teal followed 

 after, keeping close at hand. When the boy had 

 driven them into a little shed within the yard, the 

 old bird, still following, ran in after them, and in 

 spite of there being dogs and men about, did not 

 betray the least alarm. 



The sheldrake is one of the largest and handsomest 

 of its kind, and although rare as a resident bird, I 

 have frequently found its nest in rabbit burrows 

 on the shores of Morecambe Bay. It is at all times 

 one of the most distinctive of the ducks with its bright 

 and well-defined chestnut and white plumage. The 

 head and neck are black, but this glows with an 

 iridescent green. Naturalists do not consider the 

 sheldrake a true duck, but, from structural modifi- 

 cations, regard it as a connecting link between the 

 ducks and geese. It usually breeds on a plateau 

 commanding the sea, and when approaching its nest 

 it plumps right down to the mouth of the hole. 

 Its creamy white eggs are large and round, eight to 

 twelve being usually found in the burrow. For a 

 day or so after the young are hatched they are kept 

 underground, and immediately upon emerging are 

 led down to the tide. I have not infrequently taken 

 the eggs from the sand-hills and hatched them under 

 hens a quite successful experiment up to a certain 



