126 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



normal range now appears to be much further to 

 the west and south, for reasons which are not 

 apparent. It is now essentially a bird of the West. 



A flock of Cinnamon Teals in the water are 

 likely to present an enlivening spectacle, as the 

 males often engage in some sort of play not im- 

 like the bov's game of leap-frog. 



" The Cinnamon Teal nests very commonly in 



the lake region of southern Oregon. I have seen 

 it nesting all through this section from Kla- 

 math Lake to Malheur Lake. In some places in 

 southern Oregon it is more abundant than the 

 Mallard or the Pintail. I think sportsmen often 

 mistake the female for the Blue-winged Teal, 

 because of the blue wing-markings." (W. L. 

 Finlcv, MS.) 



SHOVELLER 



Spatula clypeata ( Linnccus) 



A. () L', Xumber 142 See I'olor Plate 14 



Other Names. — Spoonbill; Spoonbill Duck; Spoon- 

 bill Teal ; Broady ; Blue-winged Shoveller ; Red-breasted 

 Shoveller; Shovel-bill; Swaddle-bill; Butter Duck; 

 Cow-trog. 



General Description. — Length. 17 to 21 inches. 

 Males have the colors green, white, blue, black, grayish- 

 brown, and red in patches, while the females are pale 

 brownish-yellow with spots and streaks of dusky. Both 

 sexes have the bill long and clumsy and broadened at 

 the tip. 



Color. — Adult M.'VLe; Head and neck, dark glossy 

 green ; lower neck and forc-brcasi, pure white, e.xtend- 

 ing almost around body; a narrow line from green of 

 head down back of neck and back, dark grayish-brown 

 shading into black on rump and upper tail-coverts ; 

 shoulders, broadly white; icing-covcrts and some outer 

 feathers of shoulders, dull cobalt: speculum, rich green 

 set between white tips of greater coverts and black and 

 white tips of secondaries ; the long inner secondaries, 

 greenish-black with white stripe; lozvcr breast, abdoinen. 

 and sides, purplish-chestnut, lightening behind, followed 

 by a white space ; center tail-feathers, dusky ; outer 

 ones, white; under tail-coverts, black; bill, purplish 



dusky ; feet. vermilioTi or orange ; iris, orange or 

 yellow. .^nuLT Female: Ground color all over, pale 

 brownish-yellow closely and narrowly streaked on" 

 crown, finely spotted on sides of head and neck all 

 around with dusky; feathers of back and sides, broadly 

 brownish-black, leaving only narrow edges of the 

 lighter color ; wing as in male but coloration duller ; 

 bill, yellowish shading to dull greenish at tip with 

 some orange below and at base; iris, yellow; feet, dull 

 orange. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Located in the marshes or 

 in dry grass or under bushes; constructed of grass 

 and leaves, and lined with feathers and down. EcGS : 

 8 to 14. olive-greenish or buffy. 



Distribution. — Northern hemisphere; in North 

 .America breeds from Alaska. Mackenzie and southern 

 Keewatin south to southern California, central New 

 Me.xico, northern Texas, northern Missouri and north- 

 ern Indiana ; winters from southern British Columbia 

 across the United States on about the parallel 35° south 

 to the West Indies, Colombia, and Hawaii : in migra- 

 tion occasional in Bermuda, and north to Nova Scotia 

 and Newfoundland. 



Drawing by R. Bmce Horsfall 



SHOVELLER (i nat. size) 

 A quaint Duck, always carrying with it a prodigious spoon 



