328 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. IX. 





Genus SPATULA Boie. 



48. Spatula clypeata (Linn.). 



Shoveller Duck. 



Local names: Spoon-bill. Broad Bill. 



Distr.: Northern hemisphere, breeding chiefly (in North Amer- 

 ica) from the Canadian border to the Saskatchewan region, although 

 it breeds more or less commonly much farther north and south. It 

 has been known to nest in Alaska and also as far south as Texas. 

 It winters from southern Illinois and the Carolinas southward. Very 

 abundant in Florida and along the Gulf coast, while a great many con- 

 tinue their migration as far south as South iVinerica (Bogata). It 

 also occurs in more or less numbers in the West Indies, Mexico, and 

 Central America. 



Adult tnale: Bill, very much broadened; head and neck, dark green; 

 breast, pure white, shading into purplish chestnut on the belly; 



wing coverts, blue ; 

 speculum, green, 

 edged with white; 

 feet, orange red. 



Length, 20; 

 wing, 9.50; bill, 

 2.70; tarsus, 1.50. 

 $ Adult female: 



Head and neck, 

 mottled and streaked with pale brown and dark brown or black; 

 under parts, brownish, mottled and spotted with fuscous, scarcely 

 showing on the middle of the belly; speculum and wing coverts 

 as in the male. 



Immature male: Intermediate in plumage between the adult male 

 and female, but the speculum shows but little green, and the wing 

 coverts are slaty gray; the head is often blotched and mottled when 

 changing to adult plumage. 



Length, 19.50; wing, 9.50; bill, 2.60; tarsus, 1.50. 

 The Shoveller Duck is abundant during the migrations and a few 

 may still breed in Illinois. It is a not uncommon summer resident 

 in Wisconsin. 



The nest is composed of feathers and down placed on the ground. 

 The eggs are 7 to 10, pale buff white, and measure about 2.10 x 1.45 

 inches. 



"An abundant migrant and rather common summer resident. 



