166 ANATID^. 



Scandinavia, Denmark, north Germany, central and southern 

 Russia, and on the lower Danub'j; also commonly in the 

 neighbourhood of the Black and Caspian seas, and eastwards 

 in Turkestan and Mongolia. It winters in the basin of the 

 Mediterranean, on tlie lakes o£ north Africa, and the Caspian 

 sea, wandering occasionally to north-west India. 



Genus TABORNA Fleming, Phil. Zool. ii. 1822, p. 260. 

 Type : T. tadorna (Linn.). 



Tadoma, an Italian word, which Beems first to occur in B^lon, 1585, as the 

 latinized name of a bird. 



Tadorna tadorna. Common Sheld-Duck. 



Anas tadorna Linncens, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 122 : Sweden. 



Tadorna comuta (Gmel.) ■ B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 122; 

 Salvadori, Cat. Birds B. M. xxvii. 1895, p. 171 ; Saunders, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 419. 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A Resident, generally 

 distributed and abundant in suitable localities along the 

 coasts, but less numerous in the south of England. It also 

 nests occasionally in inland localities far from the sea. In the 

 Shetlands it is scarce, and it seems doubtful if it has ever 

 nested there. On the east coast of Scotland it is especially 

 plentiful, its numbers being largely increased in winter by 

 visitors from the Continent. 



General JJislrihution. — The Common Sheld-Duck breeds 

 from 70° N. latitude in Norway, and from f)&' N. in the 

 Ural Mountains, southwards to France and Spain. It is a 

 resident in the basins of the Black and Caspian seas. 

 Eastwards it breeds on the salt steppes of southern Siberia 

 and the salt-lakes of Turkestan and Mongolia, ranging to 

 Japan. Over the interior of Europe, along the basin of the 

 Mediterranean, and in north Africa it is chiefly known as a 

 winter visitor, and is also found at that season in northern 

 India, southern China, and Formosa. It occasionally ^isits 

 the Faeroes and Iceland. 



