8o Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



the bill is broader near the tip than at 

 the base, and is furnished, in the male, 

 with a fleshy knob which increases in 

 size with age, but is always much larger 

 at the nesting season than at other times ; 

 the legs ate flesh-coloured. In the Ruddy 

 Sheld-Duck (Casarca\ the upper outline 

 of the bill is nearly straight ; the bill is 

 of equal width throughout, and is not 

 furnished with a knob at any age; the 

 legs are dark in colour. 



The term Sheldrake, according to John 

 Ray, who published a small book in 1674, 

 entitled " A Collection of English words 

 not generally used," as quoted by Mr. 

 Stevenson, is derived from the Suffolk 

 word sheld, which means flecked or 

 parti-coloured. In Suffolk, a cat of the 

 colour usually called " tortoise-shell " is 

 spoken of as a " sheld-cat." 



