Common Shelldrake. 475 



reference, 1 suppose, to the bright red knob at the base of the 

 upper mandible, which is developed in the breeding season.. Pro- 

 vincially it is known as the 'Burrow Duck/ and in Sweden as the 

 Graf- And, ' Grave ' or ' Hole ' Duck, from its habit of selecting 

 for its nest a cavity in the rock, or a deserted burrow of a rabbit. 

 For a similar reason it is called in Scotland the ' Stock Annet/ 

 because it sometimes breeds in the hollows of decayed trees, and 

 in Orkney the ' Sly Goose/ from the manoeuvres it employs to 

 entice the intruder from its nest. Its flight is slow and heavy, 

 like that of a goose ; but Sir R. Payne-Gall wey says, ' I have 

 noticed them fly into their burrow with a dash, the wings folded 

 at that instant, rather than alight at the entrance and leave 

 a trace behind for plunderers/ The same experienced observer 

 also says, 'I have seen from ten to twelve of the young ducklings 

 climb up on the mother's back, each little one holding a feather 

 in its tiny bill, and thus carried by the parent to the safety of the 

 sea. 5 * Like the Egyptian Goose, with which it has many affini- 

 ties, though so gay in plumage, it is coarse and bitter to the taste, 

 and indeed quite uneatable. In France it is Tadorne ; in 

 Germany, Brandente, ( Burnt or Flame-coloured Goose ;' in Italy, 

 Volpoca tadorna, ' volpoca ' being the exact equivalent of ' vul- 

 panser' ; in Spain, Patotorro, ' the Pan Duck/ but why this title 

 I know not. Like the Geese, but unlike the Ducks, between 

 which it stands, the female wears very much the same coloured 

 plumage as the male. 



186. SHOVELLER. (Anas clypeata). 



The beak of this species at once distinguishes it from all other 

 Ducks, as here we see in its most perfect form the laminated 

 structure (as it is called) to which I have already alluded : the 

 laminae taking the shape of fine long bristles ; those of the upper 

 mandible projecting beyond the margin, and concealing the front 

 part of the lower mandible, and these fit beautifully into each 

 other, forming a kind of sieve, by which the bill is capable of 

 separating what is fit for food, and rejecting' through their inter - 

 * The Fowler in Ireland/ pp. 63-66. 



