189 



BUDDY SHIELDKAKE. 



CASARKA SHIELDRAKE. COLLARED DUCK. RUDDY GOOSE. 



Tadorna rxdila, .... Pallas. 



Anas rutila, ..... Bewick. 



Canard KasarJca, .... Tehminck. 



Tadorna. Quaere, from Adorno — To adorn, on account of its beauty. Rutila — Fiery red. 



We know of but four specimens of this handsome bird, which have been obtained in 

 these islands. One in the Newcastle Museum is believed to have been killed at Bry- 

 anstone, near Blandford, Dorset, in the winter of 1776. Another in Mr. Selby's 

 collection, was obtained in the south of England ; another was shot on the Sussex coast, 

 at Iken, in 1834; and the fourth specimen was procured in Ireland, on the 7th. of 

 July, 1847, on the Murrough, a fiat sandy tract near the sea, in the county of Wicklow. 

 This specimen is now in the collection of T. W. Warren, Esq., of Dublin; it is a 

 male, nearly adult. 



It has not been met with in Scotland. 



Out of the British Isles it has been obtained in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, 

 Italy, and the southern parts of Kussia and Siberia. It also occurs in Asia Minor, 

 Persia, India; and, it is said, in the whole of Africa. 



It is said to be very indifferent eating. 



It is monogamous. 



The note is said by Mr. Tarrell, to be, "when flying, not unlike the note of a clarionet; 

 at other times it cries like a Peacock, especially when kept confined; and now and then 

 clucks like a hen." 



The Ruddy Shieldrake feeds upon both animal and vegetable matter; water plants, 

 their seeds; small fish, insects, and probably any other stray morsel which would tempt 

 any of the other Ducks, which are by no means very choice in their articles of diet. 



The nest of this bird is placed in a hole in a river bank, in the deserted burrows 

 of the marmots; and sometimes in hollow trees, and is lined with its own feathers. 



The eggs, which are eight or nine in number, are white. 



