SURFACE-FEEDING DUCKS. 215 



Eggs. — 8-] 4, pale greenish-buff; 2-0 ^ 1 "4 inches 

 (plate 133). 



Nest. — Of grass, lined with down from the bird, 

 and placed among coarse herbage or sedges. 



Distribution. — In England nests from Norfolk 

 northwards on the eastern side, in Cumberland, and 

 at a few places in the Midlands ; sparingly in Wales, 

 south of Scotland, and Ireland, in the last chiefly in 

 the south. 



Though the Shoveller occurs locally as a breeding 

 bird in parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, it is 

 as a winter visitor that it is more generally known. 

 It frequents lakes and marsh-land waters, feeding in 

 the shallows upon aquatic grasses and weeds, besides 

 worms, water-insects, &c., taken in the process of 

 straining the muddy water through its broad, spoon- 

 like bill. It does not ' duck ' its head and breast 

 in the water as do other surface-feeding Ducks. It 

 has a quick flight, during which it utters a guttural 

 ' Puck ! puck ! ' but it is a slow swimmer. The 

 characteristic markings of the Shoveller are the blue 

 tract near the shoulders in the wings, the green 

 speculum, and the bill, which is longer than the 

 head, and twice as wide near the tip as at the base. 



COMMON SHELDRAKE— 25 inches. The succession of 

 green, wliite, and chestnut from head to breast in the 

 Shoveller might suggest the similarly disposed colours of 

 these parts in the Common Sheldrake ; but the illustra- 

 tion of the latter will show that these tliree colours are 

 crowded much farther forward in the Sheld than in the 

 Shoveller. 



