96 Manual of the Game Birds of India. 



edge, on the banks of Lake Tuzla, a salt 

 lagoon connected with the Black Sea. 

 I tried to catch them before they reached 

 the water, but they were too quick for me ; 

 meanwhile the old birds flew round and 

 round within easy shot, uttering their 

 peculiar cry, and trying to draw off our 

 attention from their brood, Like the 

 Common Sheldrake, the Ruddy Sheldrake 

 differs in its habits from the more 

 typical Ducks, one of its peculiarities 

 being, that when the young are hatched, 

 the drake takes his share in looking after 

 them. He does not moult into summer 

 dress, and consequently is not obliged to 

 desert his mate at the most critical period 

 of her annual duties, to hide himself in 

 the thick morasses." 



The Ruddy Sheld-Duck breeds abund- 

 antly in the high central portion of the 

 interior of the Himalayas, in Ladak, 

 Turkestan and Tibet, at elevations vary- 

 ing from 12,000 to 16,000 feet. Although 

 ducklings have frequently been observed 

 in these countries in June, the eggs do 

 not appear to have been taken by any 

 European. The nests are said to be 

 placed in holes of cliffs. 



Eggs of this species are decidedly 

 rare. In the British Museum there are 



