SIIOVELER. 43 



and change direction like the Teal, though with much less skill, 

 and Lilford noticed what has often struck me, how frequently it 

 turns its head from side to side ; possibly the broad bill, 

 silhouetted against the sky, catches the eye more than in 

 smaller-billed ducks. On the ground it is less agile than 

 many species, for, in proportion, its feet are small and weak. 

 The flight call is a repeated iuk^ tuk, but both drake and duck 

 have a deep quack, lower than the resounding note of the 

 Mallard. 



On the water the bird is often remarkably active, swimming 

 in short rushes this way and that as it scoops the water 

 with its spoon, "bibbling"' as the fowlers call it. Water, 

 especially when full of weed or mud, is passed rapidly through 

 the bill, and visible and invisible contents are sifted and retained 

 by the well-developed lamella ; the bill of the Shoveler is an 

 effective sieve. It by no means confines itself to planktonic 

 feeding, well equipped though it is for this form of diet. The 

 bird is most excited when catching insects, either on or just 

 above the water, cleverly intercepting those that i^.y near ; Mr. 

 J. G. Millais noticed it watching for and snapping up the water 

 beetles and other aquatic insects when they came up for air. 

 The assumption of the vertical pose, head down and tail up, is 

 not popular with the Shoveler, nor does it dive often. It feeds 

 at night and by day, though it often spends hours asleep on 

 the water, its head tucked in its scapulars, its white upper 

 breast puffed out, as it swings slowly round and round. Frost 

 drives it to salt water, but small pools, bogs, and marshes, 

 be they ever so dark and muddy, fresh or brackish, are its 

 favoured haunts. 



The nest is often in a marsh, and where the ground is wet is 

 a large structure of grass and rushes, but in a dry site, which it 

 prefers, is not above the level of the ground, though well 

 concealed by surrounding vegetation. In Norfolk it is seldom if 

 ever in the reeds. Mr. F. W. Holder saw cne in Lancashire, 



