Online Encyclopedia

bird's Old Norsk name Skjoldungr, from Skjoldr, primarily a patch, and now commonly bestowed on a piebald horse, just as Skjalda (Cleasby's Icel. Dict., sub voce), from the same source, is a particoloured cow. But some scholars interpret Skjoldungr by the secondary meaning of Skjoldr, a See also:

shield, asserting that it refers to " the shield-like See also:

BAND

band across the See also:

BREAST (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. the Ger. Brust, possibly connected with an O. Sax. brustian, to bud)

breast " of the bird. If they be right the proper spelling of the See also:

ENGLISH

English word would be " Shield-drake," as some indeed have it. A third suggested meaning, from the Old Norsk Skjol, shelter, is philologically to be rejected, but, if true, would refer to the bird's See also:

HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit, described in the See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text, of breeding under See also:

COVER (from the Fr. convert, from couvrir, to cover, Lat. cooperire)

cover.discussed, one of the most conspicuous birds of the See also:

DUCK

duck tribe, Anatidae, called, however, in many parts of See also:

England the " Burrow-Duck" and in some districts by the almost obsolete name of " Bergander" (Du. See also:

BERG (Ducatus Montensis)

Berg-eende, Ger. Bergente), a word used by See also:

Turner in 1544. The sheldrake is the Anas tadorna4 of See also:

LINNAEUS

Linnaeus, and the Tadorna cornuta of See also:

MODERN

modern See also:

ORNITHOLOGY

ornithology, a bird somewhat larger and of more upright stature than an See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary duck, having its See also:

BILL

bill, with a basal fleshy protuberance (whence the specific See also:

TERM

term cornuta), See also:

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale red, the See also:

head and upper See also:

NECK (O. Eng. hnecca; the word appears in many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch ride, Ger. Nacken; in O. E. the common word was heals; cf. Ger. Hals)

neck very dark glossy See also:

green, and beneath that a broad See also:

white See also:

COLLAR

collar, succeeded by a still broader See also:

belt of See also:

bright See also:

bay extending from the upper back across the upper breast. The See also:

OUTER

outer scapulars, the primaries, a median abdominal stripe, which dilates at the vent, and a See also:

bar at the tip of the See also:

MIDDLE

middle tail-quills are See also:

black; the inner secondaries and the See also:

LOWER

lower tail-coverts are See also:

grey; and the See also:

SPECULUM

speculum or wing-spot is a See also:

rich bronzed-green. The See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of the plumage is pure white, and the legs are flesh-coloured.

There is little See also:

EXTERNAL

external difference between the sexes, the See also:

FEMALE

female being only somewhat smaller and less brightly coloured. The sheldrake frequents the sandy coasts of nearly the whole of See also:

EUROPE

Europe and See also:

North See also:

Africa, extending across See also:

ASIA

Asia to See also:

India, See also:

CHINA

China and See also:

JAPAN

Japan, generally keeping in pairs and sometimes penetrating to favourable inland localities. The See also:

NEST

nest is always made under cover, usually in a See also:

RABBIT

rabbit-hole among sandhills, and in the Frisian Islands the See also:

PEOPLE

people See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply this bird with artificial burrows, taking large See also:

toll of it in eggs and down. T. radjah of See also:

AUSTRALIA

Australia, -Papuasia and the See also:

MOLUCCAS, or SPICE ISLANDS

Moluccas almost equals the true sheldrake in its brightly contrasted plumage, but the head is white in both sexes. See also:

BARBARY

Barbary, See also:

south-eastern Europe, and Central Asia are inhabited by an allied See also:

SPECIES

species of more inland range and very different coloration, the T. casarca or Casarca rutila of ornithologists, the ruddy sheldrake of English authors—for it has several times strayed to the See also:

BRITISH

British Islands-and the " Brahminy Duck " of Anglo-See also:

INDIANS, NORTH AMERICAN

Indians, who find it resorting in See also:

winter, whether by pairs or by thousands, to their inland See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters. This species is of an almost See also:

UNIFORM

uniform bay See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour all over, except the See also:

QUILL

quill-feathers of the wings and tail, and (in the male) a See also:

RING (O.E. hring; a word common to Teutonic languages; and probably cognate with the Lat. circus, Gr. KtpKOS or KpLKOS, Skt'. chakra, wheel, circle, cf. also " harangue "); in art, a band of circular shape of varying sizes, made of any material and used f

ring See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round the neck, which are black, while the wing-coverts are white and the speculum shines with green and See also:

PURPLE

purple; the bill and legs are dark-coloured.5 A species closely resembling the last, but with a grey head, C. See also:

CANA

cana, inhabits South Africa. In Australia occurs another species of more sombre See also:

COLOURS, MILITARY

colours, the C. tadornoides; and New See also:

ZEALAND (also SEALAND Or SEELAND; Danish Sjaelland)

Zealand is the home of another species, C. variegata, still less distinguished by bright hues. In the last two the plumage of the sexes differs not inconsiderably. Sheldrakes will, if See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention be paid to their wants, breed freely in captivity, See also:

CROSSING

crossing if opportunity be given them with other species, and an incident therewith connected possesses an importance hardly to be overrated by the philosophical naturalist. In the Zoological Society's gardens in See also:

LONDON

London in the See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring of 1859 a male of T. cornuta mated with a female of C. cana, and, as will have been inferred from what has been before stated, these two species differ greatly in the colouring of their plumage. The See also:

young of their See also:

union, however, presented an See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance wholly unlike that of either See also:

PARENT, SIMON NAPOLEON (1855– )

parent, and an appearance which can hardly be said, as has been said (P.Z.S., 1859, p. 442), to he "a curious See also:

COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination of the colours of the two." Both sexes of this hybrid have been admirably portrayed by J.

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SHELBY, ISAAC (1750-1826)

[next]
SHELDON, CHARLES MONROE (1857- )