THE SHOVELER AS A SCOTTISH BREEDING SPECIES 155 



THE SHOVELER AS A SCOTTISH BREEDING 



SPECIES. 



By Leonora Jeffrey Rintoul and Evelyn V. Baxter. 



When endeavouring to work out the spread and distribution, 

 in Scotland, of the various species of duck under considera- 

 tion, we find that in some cases the lines of advance and 

 subsequent dispersal are much easier to trace than in others. 

 For instance, in the case of the Wigeon, the line of advance 

 was so well marked as to be tolerably easy to trace, whereas 

 that of the Shoveler presents considerable difficulty. There 

 is none of the impetuous elan on a narrow front which 

 characterised the onward movement of the Wigeon, but the 

 methods of the Shoveler may be described as more in the 

 nature of a peaceful penetration. The general trend of 

 advance of this species seems to have been from south to 

 north, the only old-established breeding place in the north 

 being that at Loch Spynie, from which the small colony at 

 the Loch of Cotts was, no doubt, an overflow. Otherwise 

 we find that Shoveler bred near the Tweed in Selby's day, 

 then Forth and Clyde were invaded, and subsequently Tay. 

 It was not until the nineties of last century that we find 

 the species nesting in Orkney and West Sutherland, while 

 the Outer Hebrides were not reached till 1903, and even 

 to-day (1920) there is no record of breeding in North 

 Sutherland or Shetland. A curious and interesting point is 

 that this duck does not seem to have settled down and 

 established itself as a plentiful breeding species in either 

 Clyde or Solway, records from these areas being scanty. 

 The parts of Scotland most fully colonised are Tweed, Forth, 

 Tay, and Moray, though it has established itself and is 

 increasing in several other areas. 



Turning now to its distribution outside Scotland, we find 

 that the Shoveler breeds in many parts of England, having 

 greatly increased there since 1876. It is increasing in Ireland 

 and breeds in every province. Abroad the Shoveler has a 

 very wide breeding range; to quote the B.O.U. Handlist, 

 p. 173: "The Shoveler inhabits the Northern Hemisphere, 



