COMMON SHELDRAKE 207 



Breeding Range 

 This species belongs primarily to the temperate zone of Europe and Asia and is not to a great extent 

 migratory. In western Europe its breeding range extends very far north, reaching 70° north latitude 

 on the Norwegian coast. As far as I know, there is only one record of its occurrence in Western 

 the Faroe Islands (Andersen, 1902; Seebohm, 1885) and I am unable to say whether it Europe 

 bred there or not. The only unquestionable record for Iceland is a winter one for the vicinity of 

 Reykjavik, January 27, 1894 (Hantzsch, 1905). In the Shetlands, too, the species seems to be rather 

 rare, and its breeding on the islands at present is not yet proved beyond question (Saxby, 1874; 

 Buckley and Evans, 1899). According to Raeburn (Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinburgh, vol. 11, p. 72, 

 1891) there are only two reliable breeding records: one for 1829, the other for 1832. In Scotland, how- 

 ever, the species is abundant and breeds regularly. It breeds commonly in the Orkneys, _. . 

 particularly on the North Isles (Buckley and Harvie-Brown, 1891). Gray (1871) states 

 that in Sutherland and west Scotland, in the Hebrides on Skye, Mull, Islay, Jura, etc., 

 it is everywhere quite common. According to Dresser (1871-81) it is a resident species in Argyll 

 and Wigtown, but Robertson (1911) claims it is not common in Renfrew. On Solway Firth, how- 

 ever, it has recently been reported as nesting in ever greater numbers (Service, Trans. Edinburgh 

 Field Nat. and Micr. Soc, vol. 5, p. 185, 1905). On the east coast it appears to be, if anything, at 

 least as abundant as on the west. Harvie-Brown and Buckley (1887) state that in Sutherland, 

 Caithness, West Cromarty and Ross it is common on the northeast coasts, but rarer on the west. 

 They furthermore (1895) record it as common in the Moray Basin, and it is fairly so as a breeder in 

 the Tay Basin and Strathmore (Harvie-Brown, 1906). 



In England the Sheldrake breeds on all coasts, though rarely in the southern counties such as Dorset 

 or Kent (Dresser, 1871-81). It is said to be rare also in Northumberland and Durham, though it used 

 to be common in Norfolk, and in recent years has begun to increase again in that county — . , 

 (Noble, British Birds, vol. 2, p. 19, 1908). It has been recorded from the interior as 

 occurring, but not breeding, in Northampton, Oxford, Cambridge, York, Nottingham, Lancashire, 

 Lincoln, and on the south coast in Hampshire, Dorset and Cornwall ; rarely also in Devon (F. O. Morris, 

 1903). On the whole the species seems in England to be more common on the west and north than 

 in the east or south, though this does not hold true in winter (Stonham, 1908). In w . 

 Wales the species appears to occur regularly (F. O. Morris, 1903) and on the south coast 

 is known as St. George's Duck (Horsbrugh, Zoologist, ser. 4, vol. 1, p. 508, 1897). Ralfe (1905) has 

 recorded its breeding on Anglesea and on the Isle of Man. 



From all indications the species is rare but of regular occurrence in Ireland (F. O. Morris, 1903) and 

 seems to have been commoner in the first half of the last century (W. Thompson, 1851). The same 

 observer states that it used to breed at Dundrum and Belfast as well as in Donegal, _ . . 

 and that in his time it still bred about Londonderry. Stonham (1908), as well as Ussher 

 and Warren (1900), states that now it is foimd in limited numbers along the entire Irish coast, being 

 most frequently met with in the south and west. The chief breeding area of the species in Ireland 

 seems to be the region about the mouth of the Shannon, but various other nesting localities are men- 

 tioned by Ussher and Warren (1900). 



On the continent the Sheldrake is an abundant breeder on the Norwegian coast almost to the 



North Cape. Collett (1873) states that it nests north as far as Skjaergaard (70° north latitude), and 



that it is very abundant on the coast south of Trondhjem. Schaanning (1913) sets „ 



its northern limit at the Lofotens (69° north latitude), and according to Boie (1869) 



it is uncommon and irregular both on the Lofotens and on Vesteraalen. Hartwig (1889), however, 



found it breeding in Tromso, and Pearson and Bidwell (1894) on the Lofotens. _. , 



. . . . Finmark 



Farther east it occurs in western Finmark. Von Heuglin (Journ. f. Ornith., vol. 19, 



pp. 10, 82, 187p found it there breeding on Karlso (70° north latitude), and Collett (1873) states that 



