BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 135 



from this, the species is an uncommon wanderer to various 

 parts of the British Isles. The eggs, eight to thirteen in 

 number, are huffish white in colour, 'with no tinge of 

 green.' They are laid ^in a nest of dry grass, lined with 

 down, situated at some little distance from the water. 

 *The down is very dark, with small light centres, and 

 distinct gray points.' 



THE SHOVELLER 



(Spatula clypeata). 



The Shoveller is a quite unmistakable bird both from 

 the showy plumage of the drake and the broad .shovel or 

 spoon-like beak to which it owes not only its English and 

 its scientific name, but also various local titles (including 

 'Spoonbill,' which rightly belongs to a totally different 

 bird). It is chiefly a winter visitor to the British Isles, 

 but during the past thirty years it has, under protection, 

 become not uncommon as a nesting species. Its British- 

 breeding area includes many of the eastern, midland, and 

 northern regions of England, some parts in the south and 

 east of Ireland, and many districts throughout Scotland, 

 but especially in the central lowlands. Outside this 

 area it nests only exceptionally, and within it rather 

 locally. In winter it is more widespread. The nest is of 

 grass, lined with down from the bird, and placed among 

 coarse herbage or sedges. 'The eggs are distinctly 

 greenish in colour, which at once differentiates them from 

 those of the Wigeon, though the down closely resembles 

 that of the latter.' 



