782 THE SHOVELLER. 



men. Their most striking cliaraclcrislic fmni the luiincr"s slaiidiKjint is curi- 

 osit}' — this anil artless innocence. I f there i.^ anything unusual going on in the 

 swamp, the Shoveller wants to see. It is. therefore, the easiest of birds to 

 (lecov. Once when Mr. Bowles's dog was retrieving ;i dnck in open water, a 

 drake Shcn'eller came tl\-ing np. noted something interesting, ;md settled 

 promptly within a foot oi dog anil hinl. llo\ve\'er, if frightened, or on a 

 fhwav. it recjuires a good shot to bring a Sho\-eller to bag. as it is almost as 

 swift awing as any of the teals. 



The plumage of this duck is \ery handsome, ami some of its features are 

 of special interest to the bird-student. Thus the markings of the drake com- 

 bine in a striking degree the essential characters of lioth the ]\Iallard and the 

 Blue-winged Teal. Its head is of iridescent green, its Inwerp.irts are chestnut, 

 and its feet red. — all characteristic of tlie male Mallard — while its wing is 

 practicall\' an enlarged edition of the drake Blue-wing. The ])ird's eye, more- 

 over, is golden, like that of the genus Claiu/iila. anil in its striped scapulars as 

 well as in the pattern of coloration on flanks and tail-cmerts the bird recalls the 

 lordly Pintail. 



The nesting of the Shoveller is not ditierentiated from th.at of a half 

 dozen other ri\-er ducks, which resort to lowland meadows and weedy areas 

 adjacent to swatiips. Ten or ele\-en eggs, !)uffy as to hue. with a greenish cast, 

 are jilaced in a grass-lined de]iression mi the ground; .•uid when the set nears 

 completion an abundance of dark down is pro\-ided, both to retain the parental 

 warmth, and to screen the eggs from obser\-ation in the owner's absence. One 

 curious fact came to light in the course of last season's nesting; namely, the 

 dependence of the ducks u])on the ])resence of Meadowlarks. We found that 

 the close proximitv of these two \-erv diverse species was no chance coinci- 

 dence, l)Ut a \erv ])ractical rule, insomuch tliat w henexer, in dragging, we 

 flushed a Meadowlark. we said. ".\ow look for the duck's nest." Once, liefore 

 we had disco\-ered this rule, we put up a Sho\-eller from two eggs and marked 

 the spot with .-i hit of string tied to .a neighboring -weed. Returning four da_\'S 

 later and ilrop])ing carefullv to mv knees liefore the string-tied cluster, I 

 stretched out mv hand to ])art the thick grasses. Im-oiii exactly beneath the 

 hand, witli a \i]> of terror. Hew a .Meadow l;irk fmni six eggs. Talk of the con- 

 tinuity of Nature! Here was a manifest exception. Six eggs I had expected, 

 but not Meadowlarks'. \\niat pixie of the meadows had been tricking me? It 

 was not till the dav following that I returned with renewed courage to resolve 

 the riddle. The Shoveller's eggs, now clex'erly concealed b\' down, were just 

 twehe inches awav frfim those of the Meadowlark. K\idently, the Duck seeks 

 association with the Lark; this not so niucli with a view to congenial company, 

 as in order tliat she may be warned of the api)roacli of d.anger. Perhajis it is 

 the male Lark whose ad\-ice she ])kms to follow, in view of tlie f.nct that her 

 natural i)rotector, the g;iv drake, will desert as soon as she begins to brood. 



