In the Island of Sylt and others off the coast of Schleswig, the inhabitants construct artificial burrows, covered with movable lids, near which at the proper season they place quantities of broom and moss, so that the coming birds may find everything ready. These consequently take up their abode in the prepared burrows without the slightest scruple, and that sometimes quite close to the houses of their owners; nay, they at length become so familiarised with their keepers that they may be said to be in a state of semi-domestication. In these burrows the females, if not disturbed, will lay from seven to twelve large, smooth, white, thin-shelled eggs; but if the eggs are gradually taken from the nest, as they are at Sylt, the females will go on laying till they have laid twenty or thirty. When the mother bird begins to sit, she carefully surrounds her eggs with down, and when she leaves her nest covers them with the same warm material. After the lapse of about twenty-six days, the young make their appearance, and soon follow their mother to the neighbouring moors, generally stopping, however, to have a swim in a pond of fresh water that is found on the road thither. To the inhabitants of Sylt and other islands in the North Sea, it appears, therefore, that the Sheldrakes are objects of considerable attention. The eggs serve as important additions to their table; and the down from their nests, scarcely inferior to that of the Eider, is extremely valuable. The flesh of these birds is not much esteemed, having a rancid or oily taste and a disagreeable smell; they are therefore never killed, but, on the contrary, are protected by the inhabitants of the islands they frequent. * * * * * The TREE DUCKS (_Dendrocygna_) form a group having a high slender body, moderately long neck, delicately-shaped head, and weak bill; the legs are long, the wings blunt, with the third and fourth quills longer than the rest; the tail is rounded at its extremity, and the plumage variegated. THE WIDOW DUCK. [Illustration: THE WIDOW DUCK (_Dendrocygna viduata_). ONE-FOURTH NATURAL SIZE.]