THE SHIELDRAKE. 103 



is seldom met with in the interior of the country, 

 even on the largest lakes and rivers, except in a 

 half domesticated state. It breeds in the rabbit 

 warrens on the sandy shores of the coast, and is 

 generally considered a wary bird and very difficult 

 of approach so much so that in Orkney and 

 Shetland it has acquired the provincial name of 

 ' Sly goose.' When young, however, it would 

 appear to be susceptible of domestication. A 

 friend of mine told me that when at Sandringham 

 in Norfolk the property of the late J. Motteux, 

 Esq. he saw an entire family of young shiel- 

 drakes emerge from a rabbit hole in which they 

 had been bred, when summoned by the whistle 

 of the gamekeeper, partake greedily of the food 

 that was thrown to them, and retire into the same 

 retreat when their repast was finished. Although 

 the strong and fishy taste of the flesh of this bird 

 renders it almost unfit for the table, yet the 

 striking arrangement of the black, white and 

 chestnut colours of its plumage, with its bright 

 red beak and legs, render it a great favourite on 

 ornamental lakes and ponds in many parks and 

 pleasure grounds. In such situations, even when 

 pinioned, it has occasionally been known to 

 breed ; but the young birds, however carefully 

 protected from the poacher and their feathered 

 and fourfooted enemies, too frequently fall vie- 



