148 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 



bubbles when they dire, and always strildng at them when they 

 rise wearied to the surface. Their flesh is valued as food, and 

 their skins are made into warm and comfortable under 

 garments. 



The Long-tailed Duck and the Sheldrake or Burrow Duck, 

 {Anas glaciaUs ; tadorna), likewise inhabit the northern shores 



of Europe, Asia, and America. The 

 former often remains the whole year 

 in the high north, bidding defiance 

 to the icy winter of the Arctic circle, 

 and enjoying during the summer the 

 light of an uninterrupted day. Often, 

 however, it migrates to the south, 

 and wanders from Greenland and 

 Hudson's Bay as far as New York, 

 and from Spitzbergen and Iceland to Heligoland and the 

 Schleswig Islands. The duck likewise lines her nest with her 

 downs. During the winter, the sheldrake is often seen in 

 the west of England and in Ireland, where it is caught in nets. 

 On Sylt, on the Danish coast, it is half domesticated, living in 

 artificial burrows, and breeding even in the villages, on walls, 

 and in earth holes. In a pleasant valley among the downs, 

 which, although without trees, refreshed the eye with a verdant 

 carpet variegated with flowers, Naumann, the celebrated Ger- 

 man ornithologist, saw thousands of sheldrakes scattered in 

 couples over the meads, so tame that they could be approached 

 within twenty paces, when they flew up, but soon again alighted 

 on the sward. He admired the construction of the artificial 

 nests, often thirteen in one cavity, with a common entrance, and 

 communicating by horizontal tunnels. Over every nest is a 

 perpendicular opening, decked with a sod. On this being raised 

 the duck is often seen sitting on her nest, so tame that it allows 

 itself to be stroked. Every householder possesses several of 

 these artificial burrows, from which he daily gathers during 

 several weeks from twenty to thirty eggs, leaving six in each 

 nest to be hatched. He also takes care to remove one half of 

 the beautiful downs, which are no less fight and valuable than 

 those of the eider duck. 



One of the most curious members of the duck family is the 

 large Logger-headed Duck or goose (Anas brachyptera) of the 

 Falkland Islands, which sometimes weighs twenty-two pounds. 



