SHOVELLER. 235 



Range of egg colouration and measurement: 

 The eggs of the Garganey arc from eight to fourteen in 

 number. They vary from creamy-white to bufhsh-white 

 in colour, are smooth in texture, but with httle polish. 

 Average measurement, rS inch in length, by r35 inch 

 in breadth. Incubation, performed by the female, lasts 

 from twenty-one to twenty-two days. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of the Garganey 

 cannot be distinguished from those of the Teal, the only 

 species with which they can possibly be confused ; the 

 down in the nest, however, readily settles their identity, 

 the tufts being small and brown, zvith long iv/nte tips. 



Family ANATID^. Genus Anas. 



Sub-family ANAT/NA;. 



SHOVELLER. 



Anas clypeata, Lhniceus. 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, May. 



British breeding area : In England the Shoveller 

 is known to breed more or less sparingly in the 

 counties of Dorset, Kent, Hertford, Cambridge, Norfolk, 

 Lincoln, Notts, Huntingdon, Stafford, York, Durham, 

 Northumberland, and Cumberland. In Scotland, Kircud- 

 bright, East Lothian, Dumbarton, Argyle, Elgin, Ross, 

 Sutherland, and the island of Tiree in the Hebrides. 

 In Ireland, in Queen's County, Galway, Dublin, and 

 Antrim, 



Breeding habits : It is doubtful whether the 

 individuals of this species that breed in our islands are 

 resident in them ; the evidence seems to suggest a 

 southern movement in winter. The nestine haunts of 



