Sheldrake
in ornithology, the Tadorna cornuta (or vulpanser) of modern ornithologists; Anas tadorna. It is somewhat larger than an ordinary duck, with a fleshy protuberance at the base of the bill, whence its specific name. It is a very handsome bird; head and upper neck dark, glossy green, broad white collar, below which a broader band of bright SHELDRAKE bay extends from the back across the breast; outer scapulars, primaries, a median abdominal stripe, and a bar on tip of middle tail quills black; inner secondaries and lower tail coverts gray; speculum rich bronze green; rest of plumage white. The female is smaller and less brilliantly colored. It frequents sandy coasts in Europe and North Africa, ranging across Asia to Japan; nesting usually in a rabbit hole. The ruddy sheldrake, T. casarca, is a native of Barbary, south eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Its color is an almost uniform bay, the male with a black ring round the neck. The common sheldrake breeds freely in captivity.