THE SHOVELER 189 
THE GADWALL 
ANAS STREPERA 
Head and neck light grey, speckled with brown ; back and breast dark grey, 
the feathers ending in crescent-shaped whitish lines; belly white, speckled 
with brown; small wing-coverts and tip of the wing chestnut; greater 
coverts, rump, and tail-coverts black ; speculum white; bill black; irides 
brown; feet orange. Female less distinctly marked. Length twenty 
inches. Eggs buffy white, tinged with green. 
TuIs species of Duck now breeds in Norfolk and Suffolk. Its food 
and habits closely resemble those of the other Ducks; it is active, 
and both swims and flies rapidly, preferring fresh-water lakes to 
the sea, and resorting principally to such pieces of water as afford 
it ready concealment. Meyer states that when flocks of Gadwalls 
“fly about, they keep close together in a ball, but not in a line, and 
may therefore be very soon distinguished from the common wild 
Duck’. By day they mostly swim about in the open water, and 
come near the shore to feed in the evening. They breed in the great 
northern marshes of both hemispheres. The Gadwall is a surface 
feeder and not a diving duck. 
THE SHOVELER 
SPATULA CLYPEATA 
ead and neck glossy green; breast pure white; belly and flanks chestnut ; 
back brown; lesser wing-coverts pale blue; scapulars white, speckled 
and spotted with black; speculum brilliant green; bill lead colour ; 
irides yellow ; feet reddish orange. Female—head pale reddish brown, 
streaked with dusky ; upper plumage dusky brown, edged with reddish 
white ; under plumage reddish with large brown spots; the blue and 
green of the wings less bright. Length twenty inches. Eggs greenish 
buff. 
THE Shoveler is well distinguished among all the British Ducks 
by the form and structure of its bill, which in old birds is dilated 
near the extremity into a form approaching that of a spoon, and is 
furnished with a fringe of slender lamelle, resembling a comb. To- 
wards the end of the bill these are not conspicuous as long as the 
mouth of the bird is closed, but along the narrower part they are 
prominent under all circumstances. So singular an apparatus 
obviously indicates that the habit of the Shoveler is to sift water 
and mud for the sake of securing the insects and worms which 
they contain. It resorts, therefore, to the margins of fresh-water 
lakes, ponds, and ditches, and is rarely seen at sea, nor does it ever 
dive after its food in deep water, but frequently comes to land in 
quest of slugs, snails, and worms. It is met with from time to time 
