﻿SHIELDRAKE. 77 



abound ; and in such localities it either searches for some 

 deserted burrow, or scratches a hole in the sand for placing 

 its nest in ; some writers have stated that the Shieldrake 

 not only drives rabbits, but also foxes from their holes, 

 in order to obtain possession of a ready made burrow ? in 

 preference to the labour of making one for itself. Whether 

 this extraordinary assertion may be relied on or not, 

 it is very certain that this duck puts up with many an 

 inconvenience in order to be excused the trouble of burrow- 

 ing, and this has induced persons who reside near the 

 breeding localities of these birds to make artificial burrows, 

 to induce them to lay their eggs in, and thus the eggs are 

 obtained day after day as soon as they are laid. These 

 artificial burrows are made a couple of feet deep, by seven 

 or eight inches wide, and branch out in eight or ten direc- 

 tions with a hole of twelve inches in diameter at the extreme 

 end of each ; the holes or nesting-places are covered over 

 with turf, thus enabling the proprietor to lift the covering 

 daily off, and to take his prizes. 



The flesh of the Shieldrake is coarse and unfit for food, 

 but the eggs may be used like those of other ducks. 



The eggs vary in number from seven to fourteen, and 

 are in form and colour as represented in our plate. 



After about six-and-twenty days the young ducks come 

 forth, and leave the nest as soon as they are dry, following 

 the mother to the water, where they chiefly reside until 

 fully fledged : when danger approaches they immediately 

 conceal themselves, and the parents fly away, leaving the 

 young to take care of themselves. 



The Shieldrake measures nearly two feet in length ; the 

 beak is two inches from the forehead to the tip ; the tarsus 

 one inch eleven lines ; the wing, from the carpus to the tip, 

 twelve inches and a quarter. 



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