SHOVELER. 377 



white and blackish-brown. Lesser coverts pale blue. Speculum 

 (or wing spot) brilliant grass-green, broadly bordered above and nar- 

 rowly edged below with white ; bounded interiorly with greenish- 

 black. Belly and flanks deep orange-brown, the latter waved pos- 

 teriorly with black. Bill black. Legs orange. 



The female is liver-brown above, with broad borders of pale wood- 

 brown; beneath pale wood-brown with obscure liver-brown marks. 

 In this sex is also wanting the dark-brown and green colors of the 

 head, rump, and tail coverts, the white of the neck, breast, sides of 

 the rump, and scapulars, and also the orange-brown of the belly. 

 The lesser wing coverts are slightly glossed with pale blue, and the 

 speculum is less vivid than in the male. 



Subgenus. — Boschas. Swainson. Anas. Bonap. 



The bill of moderate dimensions, nearly of the same breadth 

 throughout, and without any fleshy protuberance ; the teeth small, 

 and comparatively coarse. The head wholly feathered. 



The sexes differ much in their plumage. 



The Ducks, properly so called, feed on tender aquatic plants, 

 chiefly seeds and grain; also on spawn, fry, mollusca and other 

 aquatic animals. 



32^ 



