A Day on the Bay Shore, 



and its strikingly characteristic note 

 when once learned can never be mis- 

 taken or forgotten. 



The tide has been steadily going out 

 since we arrived, and while the shore 

 birds come crowding in to feed the 

 water birds are flying about somewhat 

 restlessly from one pond to another, 

 or perchance crossing over to the deep 

 water of the mid-bay. A whirring of 

 wings and away speeds a flock of 

 shoveller ducks, formed in a v-shaped 

 file. Well may they be called shovellers, 

 with their great, broad, flattened beaks, by 

 means of which they scoop up their food 

 from the mud. The teeth-like strain- 

 ing plates on the sides of the bill, 

 so characteristic of the ducks, are un- 

 usually pronounced in this species. The 

 male is gaily colored, with wings of 

 white, blue, and green, a dark glossy- 

 green head, white breast, and under 

 parts of a chestnut hue, while the 

 female is somewhat duller, having the 

 green of the head replaced by mottled 



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