SHOVELER 



BROAD BILL BLUE-WINGED SHOVELER COMMON SHOV- 

 ELER RED-BREASTED SHOVELER SHOVELER DUCK. 



PLATE CXC. FIGURE I. 



Anas clypeata, ..... YARRELL. 



Spatula clypeata, LINNAEUS. 



Rhyncaspis cfyfeata, .... MACGILLIVRAY. 



THE nest of the Shoveler is built beside rivers, lakes, 

 and other waters, but always on dry ground. It is 

 made of fine grass, commingled with down from the bird 

 itself. In some cases the bare earth or sand is scarcely 

 covered with any materials ; in others, a tuft of grass is 

 laid in. After the female has begun to sit, she covers the 

 eggs with down plucked from her own body. 



The eggs are as many as eight to twelve or fourteen in 

 number. They are of a pale buffish-white colour, with a 

 tinge of olive. 



Incubation lasts three weeks. Only one brood is reared in 

 the year. The young leave the nest almost immediately after 

 being hatched, and repair with their mother to the water. 



These birds have repeatedly bred in the Gardens of 

 the Zoological Society, London. 



The Shoveler is a well-known visitor to England, many 



pairs even remaining to breed. 



83 



