150 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



species. He always found their nest in low but dry ground, 

 under the shelter of trees or bushes, though never among thick 

 large trees, and not more than two or three rods from water. 

 They never build on hummocks in the water, nor on high land, 

 but always just upon the edge of a marsh or lake. 

 ■ ''The nest is usually placed at the foot of a willow, among 

 grass, rather than leaves or moss, and is extremely simple, be- 

 ing composed of merely a few bits of broken dry grass and 

 sticks, but well lined with down. 



"In observing the breeding habits of these ducks, Mr. Kenni- 

 cott was struck with the remarkable persistence in the individ- 

 uals of each species in always choosing precisely similar locali- 

 ties for their nests, so far as possible; and he was therefore 

 somewhat particular in describing minutely the peculiar nesting- 

 place chosen by each. 



''The eggs are from seven to nine in number, and rather 

 small in size. At the Yukon the young are mostly hatched in 

 the early part of July. The old males moult before this time, 

 and the females somewhat later, During the summer and fall, 

 as in the spring, the flesh of this species is superior to that of 

 any other duck in that region. It leaves the Yukon and Mac- 

 kenzie River region a little later than the other fresh-water 

 ducks, except the Widgeon. It does not collect in such large 

 flocks in autumn as on its arrival in the spring. (Dr. T. M. 

 Brewer, in Water Birds of North America.) 



Genus SPATULA Boie. 



Spatula Boie, Isis, 1822, 564. Type, Anas clypeata Linn. 



lihynchaftpis "Leach," Stephens, Shaw's Gen. Zool. xii, pt. ii, 1824, 114. Same type. 



Gen. Char. Bill longer than the head, much expanded, or almost spatulate, terminally, 

 where about twice as wide as at the compressed base; maxillary lamella; very thin, length- 

 ened, almost completely exposed posteriorly, where resembling the teeth of a fine comb. 

 Tail short, the feathers acute. 



Of this very curious and well-marked genus, in which, however, 

 there is little that is peculiar except in the form of the bill, about 

 five species are known ; one occurring throughout the northern 

 hemisphere, the others peculiar to South America, South Africa, 

 Australia, and New Zealand. In the two American species and 



