169 



SHIELDRAKE. 



COMMON SHIELDEAKE. SHELDRAKE. SHELLDEAKE. 

 SKELDBAKE. BUBEOTV DUCK. SKELGOOSE. SKEELING GOOSE. 



Tadorna Bellonii, STEPHENS. 



" vulpanser, FLEMING. 



Anas tadorna, LINN^US. PENNANT. 



Tadorna ? SelloniiOf Bellon. 



THE Shieldrake is a bird of very wide dispersion. In Europe 

 it is known in Sweden, where it breeds; also in Iceland, 

 Norway, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and Holland. In 

 Asia, its range extends from Kamtschatka and the southern 

 parts of Siberia to Persia, Tartary, China, and Japan. Bewick 

 mentions that Captain Cook has noticed them at Van Diemen's 

 Land, and that they have been seen in great numbers on 

 the Falkland Islands. 



This species is strictly a maritime one, though it has 

 sometimes occurred inland; but such instances form the 

 'exception, not the rule.' It has been shot in Northampton- 

 shire, the Hon. T. L. Powys has written me word, and he 

 also mentions two killed near Oxford. In Cambridgeshire 

 it used to be not uncommon. In Yorkshire, it has occurred 

 near Doncaster, also near York, Driffield, and Thirsk, but 

 rarely. Several have been found near Sutton-on-Derwent, 'where 

 they have appeared in small flocks. They used to breed on 

 the banks of the Humber. In Nottinghamshire, near Retford. 

 In Northumberland, they build on the coast, where there 

 is sand above high-water mark. 



In Lincolnshire, the Rev, R. P. Alington informs me that 

 the Shieldrake occurs on the sea-coast, near Summercoats, 



