320 



VERTEJlllATA. 



TUB MANDARIN DUCK. 



"exceedingly good for nothing." The Common European Sheldrake, or BuRROW-DtJCK, T. 

 rulpanser, is twenty-four inches long, and sometimes breeds in rabbit-burrows. It is found in all 

 parts of Europe. In the Orkneys it is called Sly Goose, on account of its tricks. When a person 



comes near its nest it pretends 

 to have a wing broken, and wad- 

 dles away in a doleful manner, 

 the wing trailing on the ground ; 

 when the stranger has pursued 

 it in vain for some time, it sud- 

 denly takes flight, and loaves tl e 

 outwitted Orcadian gapirg with 

 wonder. 



The Eider Duck, Somateria 

 mollissima, is twenty-five inches 

 long, and is remarkable for its 

 soft down. It is found through- 

 out the north of Europe and of 

 North America,and usually builds 

 its nests on the rocky precipices 

 which overhang the ocean. The 

 down so much valued is plucked 

 off the breast by the female to 

 line her nest. Xuttall says : "As 

 soon as the young are hatched they are led to the water by their attentive parent, and there 

 remain, excepting in the night and in tempestuous weather. Their greatest enemy, besides 

 man, is the Saddle-Back Gull ; the yoimg, however, elude his pursuit by diving, at which both 

 old and young are very expert. The down, though so valuable, is neglected in Labrador. It is 

 so light and elastic, that two or three pounds of it, pressed into a ball that may be held in the 



THE COMMON SHELDRAKE OF EUROPE. 



I 



