﻿SHIELDHAKE. 75 



NATATORES. ANAT1DJE. 



PLATE CCXLIV. 



SHIELDRAKE. 



ANAS TADORNA. 



The Shieldrake is indigenous in Great Britain, and found 

 on many of its sandy shores, such as the coasts of Norfolk 

 and Suffolk, of Northumberland, Dorsetshire, and Hamp- 

 shire. It is also found on the shores of Scotland and Ireland 

 in favourable situations, as well as on those of the Orkney 

 and Shetland Isles. In most of these parts the Shieldrakes 

 are permanent residents, but their numbers are augmented in 

 the autumn to a great extent, by numerous migratory bands 

 that arrive from the north to pass the winter with us. This 

 species is more an inhabitant of the moderate climates than 

 of the rigid ; in Europe, it inhabits, during the summer 

 months, the shores of the southern half of Sweden, but is 

 rarely found in Norway. In the southern parts of Asiatic 

 Russia this species is plentiful, particularly on the borders of 

 the Black, the Caspian, and other seas ; it is also found east- 

 ward from thence, as far as Kamtschatka ; and retires in 

 winter to Persia, Tartary, China, and Japan. From the 

 mouth of the Elbe it spreads over the entire western coast of 

 Germany, Holland, and France ; and during the winter 



VOL. VI. H 



