Genus TADORNA or SHELDRAKES. 



Type TADORNA CORNUTA. 



Tadorna of Fleming (1822). — The birds comprising the 

 present genus are characterised by their white carpal region of 

 the wing, which is also swollen into a hard feathered pro- 

 tuberance; by their rather long tarsus (nearly as long as the 

 middle toe and claw), and by their prevailing and usually strongly 

 contrasted colours of black, white, and chestnut. The wings are 

 long and ample, the second primary the longest. The bill is 

 higher than broad at the base, the unguis decurved and hooked ; 

 nostrils oval, sub-basal. Three toes in front webbed; hind toe 

 small. Sexes very similar in colour. 



This genus is composed of six species, breeding in the tem- 

 perate portions of the Palaearctic and Ethiopian region, and in 

 the Australian region ; Oriental region chiefly in winter. Two 

 species are British, one of which is a common resident in, the 

 other an accidental visitor to, our islands. 



The Sheldrakes are dwellers on sea coasts, and on salt lakes 

 and marshes. They are birds of rather slow and laboured flight, 

 progressing by slow, regular beats of the wings, like Swans. They 

 also swim and walk with ease. Their notes are harsh and 

 unmusical. They subsist on both animal and vegetable sub- 

 stances. They breed in holes of trees, in rocks, or in the ground, 

 and their eggs are numerous and creamy white. They are mono- 

 gamous, pair probably for life, and the male bird shares the duty 

 of tending the eggs and young. They are more or less gregarious 

 and sociable, especially during winter. 



