THE MANDARIN DUCK. 
" exceedingly good for nothing." Tlio Common European Sheldrake, or Buerow-Duck:, T. 
vul2Janser, is twenty-four inches long, and sometimes breeds in rabbit-burrows. It is found in all 
l^arts of Europe. In the Orkneys it is called Sly Goose, on account of its tricks. When a person 
- . comes near its nest it pretends 
- to have a wing broken, and wad- 
dles away in a doleful manner, 
the wing trailing on the ground ; 
when the stranger has pursued 
it in vain for some time, it sud- 
denly takes flight, and leaves tl e 
outwitted Orcadian gapiug with 
wonder. 
The Eider Duck, Somateria 
inollissima, is twenty-five inches 
long, and is remarkable for its 
soft down. It is found through- 
out the north of Europe and of 
North America,and usually builds 
its nests on the rocky precipices 
which overhang the ocean. The 
down so much valued is plucked 
off the breast by the female to 
line her nest. Nuttall says : "As 
soon as the young are hatched they are led to the water by their attentive parent, and there 
remain, excepting in the night and in tempestuous weather, llieir greatest enemy, besides 
man, is the Saddle-Back Gull ; the young, however, elude his pursuit by diving, at which both 
old and young are very expert. The down, though so valuable, is neglected in Labrador. It is 
so light and elastic, that two or three pounds of it, pressed into a ball that may be held in the 
THE COinaON SHELDRAKE OF BUEOPE. 
