54 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



being maimed, in order to draw the intruder away from its nest. 

 Then the characteristic proportions between the head, with the 

 long wide beak, and the body are very apparent ; and, further, 

 as it flutters along with outspread wings, you can always see 

 distinctly the patch of pale blue feathers on the carpal joints of 

 the wings. When it is disturbed the bird stays a long while 

 away from the nest. My own time is generally too limited to 

 watch them back. I have, however, watched upon occasions for 

 three hours in vain. After fluttering away the duck rises in the 

 air, and is almost at once joined by the drake, both circling 

 round together, sometimes calling at the same time, and finally 

 disappearing to some other part of the marsh in order to allow 

 time for the intruder to go away. In these marshes Carrion- 

 Crows are the chief enemies of both this species and of the 

 Mallard. In 1905 they seemed to be particularly unfortunate in 

 this respect, as I found no fewer than four nests in which the 

 eggs had been sucked. In 1906 they were more fortunate, in so 

 far as they came under my observation. Four out of the five 

 nests I watched were hatched out, because late in the summer, 

 when I visited them, I found the egg-shells of the hatched eggs 

 trodden down into the bottom of the nest-hollow. 



The Sheld-Duck, locally called "Bar-goose" — a resident all 

 the year round — spends the winter months generally on the 

 estuaries, and on the mud-flats when uncovered by the tide. 

 But while during spring the only individuals of the other species 

 of duck which remain in the district seem to be occupied in the 

 business of nesting, large numbers of non-breeding Sheld-Ducks 

 stay in the vicinity all through the summer, still being seen 

 feeding on the ooze in flocks at the same time as breeding pairs 

 will be scattered over the meadows of the marsh-land. Doubt- 

 less this is one of those species which take two or more years to 

 come to maturity, and the flocks in spring are perhaps composed 

 of immature birds, only the older ones taking up the responsi- 

 bilities of wedded life. It is worth while to mention an inter- 

 esting observation which goes to prove that the very striking 

 plumage of this bird does not necessarily make it so conspicuous 

 as might be supposed. Eoughly, it might be described as being 

 a piebald bird. Its plumage is boldly patched with white and 

 black and chestnut, but at a distance the markings do not 



