SHOVE LER. 171 



May," writes me under date November lltli, 1882, 

 " In 1851 and 1852, along with the late Dr. Nelson, of 

 Lytham, I often called upon a bird-stuffer in Preston, 

 named Sharpies, and it was on the occasion of these 

 visits I had an opportunity of seeing the Shovelers and 

 also Ruffs and Eeeves i>i quantities. I have seen as 

 many as twenty or thirty of each species in his hands 

 at one time, all in the flesh. They had been shot on 

 the banks of the Eibble, but I cannot now give the 

 precise locality. Dr. Nelson, however, knew the place 

 perfectly well, and had often shot both birds there 

 himself." It is not infrequently met with by Snipe- 

 shooters, and Mr. Hugh P. Hornby, who has several 

 times killed specimens near St. Michael's-on-Wyre, tells 

 me that at the Hale decoy it has been occasionally taken, 

 but that he could not find any record of late years. An 

 adult male was seen there on December 5th 1884, by 

 Mr. E. J. Howard. Mr. J. B. Hodgkinson has had 

 Shovelers, both male and female, shot in the breeding- 

 season, and is confident that it sometimes nests on the 

 hills in Higher Wyresdale, the characteristic blue 

 feathers of the drake having been sent him in summer 

 from birds shot in that district. A young bird was 

 killed on Bury reservoir in August 1878, and preserved 

 by Mr. E. Davonport, but the species is seldom seen so 

 far inland. 



GENUS FULIGULA. 

 TUFTED DUCK. 



FULIGULA CRISTATA (Leacll). 



The Tufted Duck is not common, and is more fre- 

 quently seen on the rivers and inland marshes than 



