SHOVELER, OR SPOONBILL. 145 
CHAPTER XII. 
SHOVELER, OR SPOONBILL. 
Tue Shoveler or Spoonbill duck is a frequenter of 
almost all Western waters. ‘They are a queer-looking 
bird, and once seen will not be readily forgotten. Their 
bill is a peculiar one, being like some streams, both 
broad and deep, and appears like an abnormal develop- 
ment added to their otherwise pretty shape. That 
nature has aided them with a bill different in its forma- 
tion from any other is apparent, but the wherefore is 
beyond my comprehension. Possibly, the sins of their 
parents have been visited upon them, and those we 
have among us are of the third, may be, of the fourth 
generation, and they are compelled to suffer by reason 
of the sins committed by their ancestors. Ifso, Nature 
has certainly prepared them to shovel their way through, 
for she has given them a bill spoon-shaped, with which 
they can dig, shovel or scoop as they desire. Iremem- 
ber the first one I saw. It wasa female. After it was 
shot, the dog retrieved it. I thought it was a young 
mallard, and casting an astonished look at it, my tender 
heart softened and I wondered how this young mallard 
had flattened out her bill ; but my experienced com- 
panion soon set me right, when he told me it was a 
shoveler ; that the bird was worthy and deserving of 
the name was unquestionable. Its great bill proclaimed 
it with silent eloquence. This then, was the plebeian of 
19 
