ANSI'S AND LOGS Ol AU /HI KALIAN BIRDS. 1045 



coloiu-ed, aud the blue ou tlie wiug was less biilliaut. If these Ducks 

 were a typiail pail', Gould's plates, wliich are usually excellent, are not 

 richly enough coloui-ed to do the birds justice. 



The Shoveller riuiges ehielly over the southern half of the Coutiueut, 

 iiiclucLiug Tasmania. According to Count Salvadori, the handsome 

 i^puiula varujata (Gould) of New Zealand, reported to iiave been taken 

 in Tasmania, is merely a vai-iety of the Australian yhoveller. Colonel 

 Legge believes that the two varieties are simply " races " of the one 

 species. 



Not only do " birds of a feather flock togcLner, " but Ducks 

 of different species fraternise on favoiu'ite feeding-giounds. I have wit- 

 nessed, as doubtless many other collectors have, Shovellers, Black and 

 other Ducks in one flock. Goidd, in 1839, records having seen ou the 

 flats between Aberdeen and Scoue, New South Wales, hundreds of 

 Shovellers, W' hite-eyed and Fink-eared Ducks in company. He writes : 

 — " I did not succeed in finding the breeding-place of this species, conse- 

 quently 1 am unable to give any account of its incubation, ntst, or eggs." 



Tlie first nest I was fortunate enough to find of the Shoveller was 

 discovered by flushing a bird from tussock grass on WiUJip Island, 

 Westemport. The nest contained the full complement of nine eggs. 

 As they were jxirtly incubated, I took two only ; date, 18th October, 

 1880. On December 2nd, 1890, among thistles gi-owuig on an embank- 

 ment in a MuiTay swamp, I foiuid two, evidently the commencement 

 of a clutch. There was no down about the specimens, but the presence 

 of a few feathers of the Shoveller Duck was sufficient to identify the 

 pai-entage of the eggs. 



During our trip to Riverina in September, 1894, Shovellers were 

 commencing to lay in the crops at Bannockbum. After oui- dcpartui'e 

 several nests were found. The ,bu-ds, when suddenly flushed, have an 

 objectionable practice of fouling the nest. This I have occasionally 

 noticed in the fase of the Black Duck. Whether tlus is the residt of 

 sudden fright, or it is done as a protection for the eggs, has not been 

 proved. Probably fright is the cause. 



Although the Shoveller usually lays ou the ground, sometimes it 

 talves to hollow trees. Tlie late Captain F. C. Hansen, of the Miuray 

 steamer " Maggie," recollected seeing a Shoveller can-ying its young out 

 of a tree. He took particular notice, because he wasi aware of the pro- 

 chvities of this Duck for breeding on the gi'ound. He casually mentioned 

 that the season of 1887 was remarkable for the nvunber of Ducks of 

 various kinds in the MuiTay district. 



In New Zealand, according to the late Mr. T. H. Potts, the comple- 

 ment for a clutch of Shoveller's eggs is ten. 



The breeding season for the Australian bud is usually from August 

 to November. 



Tlie Shoveller is not so heavy as the Black Duck — the male, with a 

 total length of 21^ inches, weighing 1 lb. 10 oz. ; the female, length 20 

 inches, 1 lb. 4 oz. 



Here is another instance of Ducks covering thefi- egg-s before 

 temporanly leaving them. Mr. C. H. M'Lennan, wilting to me from 

 the mallee, Victona, says:— "There was a Bluewing's (Shoveller) nest 



