342 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



Habits. — The Sheldrake is a thorough bird of the coast, and only under 

 exceptional circumstances frequents inland waters, and even then when they are 

 salt. Although it is a resident with us in all the colder portions of its range, it 

 is a bird of passage, drawing south in October and retiring north again in March. 

 Its numbers are consequently increased in our Islands during winter. In India 

 it arrives later in autumn, during the latter half of November, and appears to 

 linger longer in spring, till nearly the middle of April, probably because at its 

 breeding grounds in Mongolia and South Siberia the summer is much later than 

 in Europe. The Sheldrake prefers sandy coasts to mud-flats, and low beaches 

 and dunes are its favourite resorts. It is ever a shy and wary bird, difficult to 

 approach, and usually takes alarm before any other wild fowl that may by 

 chance be in its vicinity. At all times the Sheldrake is a rather sociable bird, but 

 never appears to congregate into very large flocks, being usually met with in 

 small parties or scattered pairs. It changes its ground a good deal according to 

 season, and in winter visits many parts of the coast where it is entirely absent 

 in the breeding season. The flight of the Sheldrake is regular and straight- 

 forward, not performed with rapid beats like that of the typical Ducks, but with 

 slow and measured strokes, which lend the bird's movements a laboured appear- 

 ance, more apparent than real. The flight is seldom taken very high, usually 

 close to the water, and is often considerably prolonged ; but when on migration, 

 the bird rises much higher. The food of this species consists of grass, and the 

 stems and leaves of various plants growing in or near the water; of insects, 

 crustaceans, worms, mollusks, and small fish. The young, in their downy stage 

 of existence, feed almost exclusively on sand-hoppers, which they are very expert 

 at catching, even shortly after they are hatched. None of this food is obtained 

 by diving, but whilst the bird is wandering about the shore, paddling in the 

 shallows, or swimming in water just deep enough to allow it to reach the bottom 

 when the fore part of the body is submerged, and the hind quarters are held 

 almost perpendicular. The Sheldrake swims well and lightly, and on land walks 

 more elegantly than the typical Ducks. It seldom wanders far from the water, 

 but- occasionally visits the pastures close to its haunts, and wanders to the turf 

 amongst the dunes. As soon as the young are reared the broods and their parents 

 frequently go out to sea, only coming on shore to feed, but not always to sleep. 

 The call-note of the Sheldrake is a harsh quack ; in the pairing season an oft- 

 repeated, tremulous whistling or chirping note is uttered, and when the young 

 are abroad a hoarse hofr or kurr is heard. Hume states that, when surprised, 

 both sexes utter a whistle of alarm. 



Nidification — The breeding grounds of the Sheldrake are near the sea, 

 either on the sandy coasts of the mainland or on low islands. In our Islands the 

 birds gather at their breeding places in March, but the eggs are usually laid 

 during May; in other locahties they are a little earlier or later according to 



