The Sheld-Ducks. 87 



been obtained from a single burrow in 

 one season." 



Mr. Stevenson in his " Birds of Norfolk " 

 thus summarises the habits of this Duck : 

 " Mr. Selby, from his own observations 

 of the habits of this species upon the 

 Northumbrian coast, states that the males 

 do not pair until their plumage is perfected 

 in the second year, but, once paired, 

 remain constant to the same mate. In 

 the male, also, at the commencement of 

 the breeding season, the fleshy knob at 

 the base of the upper mandible, scarcely 

 perceptible in autumn and winter, * begins 

 to swell and acquires a beautiful crimson 

 hue, and when at its full development, is 

 nearly as large as a marble.' The nests 

 are formed of ' bent grass and other dry 

 vegetable materials,' lined with soft down 

 from the old birds' breasts ; and the eggs, 

 from twelve to sixteen in number, * of a 

 pure white or slightly tinged with green,' 

 are incubated in thirty days, and are 

 sometimes ten or twelve feet from the 

 entrance to the burrow. The male sits 

 on the eggs when the female is off feeding, 

 and both birds, like the partridge and 

 wild duck, will feign lameness and adopt 

 other stratagems to decoy intruders from 

 the vicinity of their young when able to 



