A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



especially during or after severe weather. On 

 the whole this bird seems to be on the increase, 

 and if the eggs were not taken it would soon 

 be a common bird again. The nest is 

 usually placed in a rabbit burrow, amongst 

 sandhills on the coast. 



164. Ruddy Sheld-Duck. Tadorna casarca 



(Linn.) 



An example of this rare duck was shot at 

 Braunton, north Devon, in April 1882, and 

 is preserved in the United Service College 

 Museum at Westward Ho ! Devonshire 

 participated with the rest of England in the 

 remarkable visitation of ruddy sheld-ducks in 

 the summer of 1892, three having been 

 obtained at the mouth of the Taw in June 

 of that year. It is not known to have 

 occurred in south Devon. 



165. Mallard. Anas boscas, Linn. 

 Locally, Wild Duck. 



The mallard is now not nearly so generally 

 abundant in Devonshire, as it was at the 

 beginning of the eighteenth century, when 

 many decoys were in operation in various 

 parts of the county. It is now principally a 

 winter visitor. A few pairs nest annually, in 

 some retired places, throughout the county, 

 and it seems to be rather on the increase 

 again as a breeding species. It is at Slapton 

 and Thurlestone Leys however that the 

 greatest number of our resident wild ducks 

 are to be foimd. At the former stronghold 

 for wildfowl scores of the drake mallards may 

 be seen rising from the reeds when disturbed 

 during the breeding season, the ducks nesting 

 in hedges in the fields around the ley. In 

 winter large flights arrive on the south-west 

 coast, immense flocks being seen in Bigbury 

 Bay, especially under the Bolt Tail, where 

 they rest by day, flying inland to feed at 

 night. White and other varieties are very 

 frequent, probably through interbreeding with 

 domestic ducks, and hybrids between the 

 mallard and wigeon and mallard and teal 

 have been obtained. 



166. Gadwall. Anas strepera, Linn. 



A casual visitor of rare occurrence. It has 

 been met with only on the south coast. A 

 female killed at Slapton Ley in January 1885 

 is believed to be the first recorded example 

 shot there. A nearly adult male was also 

 obtained there on 2 January 1893. The 

 gadwall has occurred several times at Ply- 

 mouth, at Kingsbridge and at Seaton. One 

 or two have been obtained on the Exe estuary 

 and one on the Dart. 



167. Shoveler. Spatula clypeata (Linn.) 

 This beautiful duck is not uncommon in 



some winters. Large flocks were seen at 

 Slapton Ley in January 1899 and January 

 1893, and some were obtained there in the 

 winter of 1894-5. The shoveler used to 

 occur almost every winter on the Barnstaple 

 river in small parties or singly. It has fre- 

 quently been obtained at Plymouth, on the 

 Exe and on the Dart. It usually occurs 

 from September to April, but Montagu speaks 

 of one shot on 5 August 1807, 'on a fresh- 

 water lake on the south coast of Devon ' ; 

 and the late Mr. W. V. Toll killed one on 

 6 August 1 89 1 on Slapton Ley, and he 

 believed it had been hatched there. A young 

 shoveler was shot on Thurlestone Ley on i 

 August 1899, but, according to Mr. Elliot, 

 could not have been bred there, as he had the 

 Ley under constant observation, and saw no 

 breeding birds. These young birds may have 

 possibly come from the south of Ireland, 

 where the shoveler is known to breed. 



168. Pintail. Dafila acuta (Linn.) 

 Locally, Sea-Pheasant, Pheasant-Duck. 



A winter visitor to our bays, estuaries and 

 rivers, principally to those in the south of the 

 county. It is very rare in north Devon at 

 present, though formerly well known to the 

 boatmen at Instow. It visits Lundy Island. 

 A few examples have been obtained at Ply- 

 mouth and on the Exe. On Slapton and 

 Torcross Leys pintails are shot nearly every 

 winter, mostly immature birds, but some fine 

 full-plumaged males have been obtained. A 

 flock of some thirty pintails visited the Kings- 

 bridge estuary 6 February 1895, and Mr. 

 Elliot shot two male birds in full breeding 

 dress out of it^ A pair were shot on the 

 rocks under the cliffs on the estuary, January 

 1897. 



169. Teal. Nettion crecca (Linn.) 

 Partially a resident, and a common winter 



visitor, arriving in September and remaining 

 till late in the spring. Many pairs breed in 

 the marshy meadows bordering the streams 

 that run into Slapton Ley, and probably in 

 the Dartmoor bogs, and in other suitable 

 situations in the county. A male bird with 

 a white ring round the neck was seen by Mr. 

 Gatcombe at Ilfracombe. 



1 70. American Green-winged Teal. Nett'ton 



carolinense (J. F. Gmelin) 

 The only example of this accidental wan- 

 derer from America that has occurred in 

 Devonshire was obtained by Mr. R. P. 

 Nicholls of Kingsbridge, 23 November 1879. 



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