840 SHOOI—SHOVELER 
SHOOI, a name in Shetland (Edmondston, Zetland Islands, ii. 
p- 281) for the Arctic Gull (SkuA), 
SHORT BILL, the inexpressive name given by Swainson in 
1820 (Zool. Lllustr. pl. 31) to a curious bird, first described by Vieil- 
lot (Analyse, p. 68) as Phibalura! flavirostris, one of the Cotingide 
(CHATTERER), but easily recognized by its long, 
forked tail. Its coloration, though somewhat resem- 
bling that of Ampelion, is peculiar, the olive-green 
feathers of the upper parts being tipped with bright 
yellow, following a subterminal black bar, while 
those of the throat and breast are white with a 
similar black bar and no yellow tip: the crown of 
», the head is crimson, more or less concealed by a 
* thick growth of dark feathers. There is only one 
species of the genus which inhabits open spaces in 
the forests of South-eastern Brazil; but until the 
appearance of Dr. Géldi’s notes (Jdis, 
1894, pp. 484-490) next to nothing was 
known of its habits, and what he tells 
us leaves much to be desired. He found 
that the bird devours enormous quanti- 
ties of certain berries having a viscous 
pericarp, and he obtained a nest with 
two eggs on which the parent was sitting. These were of a clear 
greenish-blue with an irregular crown of neutrally-tinted spots at 
the larger end, but the illustration representing the nest, eggs and 
young is disappointing. ‘The nest is almost concealed by the sawn- 
off branches of the tree in which it was built, the eggs from the 
small scale shew no characters, and the young are nearly as 
insignificant.” 
PurBpatura. (After Swainson.) 
SHOVELER, formerly spelt SiovELAR, and more anciently 
1 Some writers object to this word as senseless, so that in 1827 Gloger 
(Notizen a. d. Geb. d. Natur, xvi. p. 278) proposed Chelidis instead, and Prof. 
Cabanis (Arch. f. Naturgesch. 1847, i. p. 233), thinking that too much like 
Chelidon, suggested Amphibolura as an amendment, unaware that the last had 
been preoccupied by Wagler in Herpetology ; but no change seems needed, for 
piBaros (gracilis, exilis), though not commonly given in lexicons, is to be found 
in that of Constantine (1592), and combined with ovpda is appropriate enough— 
this being the very etymology Vicillet gave (N. Dict. @hist. nat. xxiv. p. 107). 
2 Many years ago Mr. A. G. More drew my attention to a figure in the 
Dublin Penny Journal (i. p. 253) for 2 Feb. 1833 which he had recognized 
as representing a bird of this species, professedly taken from one said to have been 
shot two or three years before at Powerscourt in Ireland, where it was flying 
about with some Swallows! The specimen was said to be in the possession of a 
gentleman at Dublin; but, though the description is accurate, the contributor 
did not give his name, and his statement is hard to believe. 
