300. Tadorna cornuta.
THE BURROW DUCK or COMMON SHELDRAKE.
Cornilta=horned; from cornu=a, horn.
Shah-chakwa, Upper India; Niraji, Sind; Shah moorghabi, Cabul.
Male 23" to 26"; 3 lbs, female 21" to 22"; 2 lbs. Legs red. Bill and basal knob red, tip black. Head and neck glossy green. White collar. Chestnut breast-band, uniting on back. Mesial black line. Speculum chestnut, black, and green. Tail white, tipped black.— Female: No knob at base of bill. Lower plumage white, mottled brown; no band. Europe and Asia, migrating in winter to S. Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia, N. India, S. China, and Japan. Nest in a burrow. Seven to sixteen eggs (2.6 x 1.9), buff. Hatched in twenty-eight to thirty days, and immediately led to the sea. (J, 956. B. 1587.) See illustration, p. 262.
Also T. radjah. 19". Legs and bill white, no knob at base. Head, neck, breast, and abdomen white. Tail black. Moluccas, Papuan Islands, and Australia.
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