428 SHOVELER. 



ward, it nests down to the African side of the Mediterranean, where 

 numbers of migrants appear in winter, and some visit the Canaries. 

 In the cold season the Shoveler is abundant in Egypt and Nubia ; 

 it is even said to be resident in the elevated regions of Abyssinia ; 

 and its migrations extend to Cape Colony. Across Asia south of 

 68° it is found in suitable localities, visiting India, China, Japan, 

 the Malay Archipelago, Australia, and even the Gilbert Islands 

 during cold weather ; while in America this widely-distributed 

 species breeds from Alaska to Texas, wintering as far south as 

 Panama. 



The nest is usually on dry ground, among heather, rank vegetation 

 or tufts of sedge, and is made of fine grass, with a lining of down 

 plucked by the female from her body after she begins to sit. The 

 eggs, 8-14 in number, are of a pale greenish-buff colour : measure- 

 ments 2 by I "4 in. The note in pairing-time may be syllabled as 

 took, took ; otherwise the bird is comparatively silent. The Shoveler 

 feeds on grasses, worms, slugs, snails, aquatic and other insects, and 

 small crustaceans ; its flesh is well-flavoured, rivalling that of the 

 Gadwall or the American Canvas-back. With all Ducks, however, 

 diet is an important factor, and even a Canvas-back, when it has 

 not been feeding on the succulent Vallisnerla so abundant in the 

 Chesapeake river, is a very ordinary bird for the table. In confine- 

 ment the Shoveler has bred with the Garganey. 



The adult male has the bill lead-colour, dilated towards the tip ; 

 irides yellow ; head and upper neck green ; lower neck and scapu- 

 lars white ; feathers of the middle-back dark brown with paler 

 margins ; shoulders pale blue ; greater wing-coverts white ; second- 

 aries dark brown with a green wing-spot ; primaries, rump, upper 

 tail-coverts and tail-feathers almost black; breast and belly rich 

 chestnut ; flanks freckled with dark brown on a paler ground ; vent 

 white ; under tail-coverts black ; legs, toes and webs reddish-orange. 

 Length 20 in. ; wing 9-5 in. In summer the drake assumes a dress 

 approaching that of the duck, but more rufous, and the blue on 

 the wing-coverts is not lost. The female has the head and neck 

 mottled with two shades of brown ; the feathers of the upper parts 

 dark brown in the centre, with lighter edges ; under parts pale 

 brown ; irides brown. The young drake at first resembles the mother- 

 bird. The nestling has a proportionately longer, narrower, and 

 more slender bill than the young Mallard or Gadwall, but at the age 

 of three weeks there is an obvious increase in length and breadth, 

 especially in drakes. 



