The COMMON SHELDRAKE (_Vulpanser tadorna_) is a beautiful bird, with head and neck of dark glossy green. The shoulders exhibit two large black spots; a patch on the breast, the centre of the back, the wing-covers, side of the body and upper portion of the tail are pure white. The centre of the breast and belly are greyish black; a broad band on the neck, and some of the upper secondaries are of a bright reddish brown. The lower tail-covers are yellowish; the quills blackish grey, and the wings decorated with a metallic green patch. The eye is dark rust-red, the beak carmine-red, and foot flesh-brown. This species is two feet long, and three feet and a half broad; the wing measures fourteen inches, and the tail four inches and a half. The female is similarly but less beautifully coloured. In young birds the nape is grey, the upper part of the back and under side are yellowish grey; there is also no band upon their breasts. The range of the Sheldrake extends north to about the middle of Sweden, and south as far as North Africa, where they are to be met with on every lake during the winter, and make their appearance in countless multitudes. They are likewise numerous upon the coasts of China and Japan, as well as upon the great lakes of Siberia and Central Asia; nevertheless, they decidedly prefer salt water to fresh, and are always most abundant upon the sea itself, or upon salt-water lakes. In Great Britain these birds are indigenous, and breed upon every part of the coast. Even in extensive collections of water-fowl, where various species of Ducks are seen in close proximity to each other, the Sheldrakes are conspicuously beautiful; but when seen swimming on the sea or crowding the surface of some large lake, the eye is enchanted with the variety and elegance of their movements. In Africa they add an unspeakable charm to the lake scenery, the brilliancy and liveliness of their colours rendering them prominent objects at a very considerable distance. Even upon the islands near Schleswig, Jutland, and Denmark, where they are almost household birds, they invariably call forth the admiration of the beholder. In their general habits they bear some resemblance to the Brahminy Ducks before described; their gait, however, is somewhat heavier, and they swim with greater facility. In their voices there is no resemblance whatever between the two species. The call-note of the female is a loud "Quack," and that of the male a deep "Koer," while during the pairing season they give utterance to a peculiar whistle. Their food is preferably vegetable, consisting of the tender parts of seaweeds and other plants which abound in salt water; they will likewise eat grass, and when in confinement occasionally devour small fishes, molluscs, and small crustaceans; neither do they altogether refuse flesh. These birds seek their food less by swimming than by wading. As the tide recedes they may be seen running like