41* 



: OOKfl 



DUCKS. 



to Latham it inhabit* the Command el Coart and parU of 

 India, f"he form occur* in Australia (New Holland Shoveler) ; and 

 Swainaon mjt that the geographical distribution of the true Sbovclen 

 may b deemed univenaL 



It lire* on Bab** and inaecU, rarely planU and *ceds. (Temminck.) 



It make* iU neat upon the border* of lake* covered with reed* or 

 coppice, ami lay* 13 to 14 eggs of a bright greenish-yellow, or oil- 

 green. It U Hid to hare bred in France, and ha* been known to 

 bread in the marabc* of Norfolk, and in the neighbourhood of the 

 Tweed. But theae may be deemed exception)) to the general place 

 of nidifieation, which i* far north. 



The flenb i* highly eateerned for the table, and i* considered by 

 many to excel that of the mallard, or common wild-duck, in flavour. 



J//aforyncAj (Swaineon). Mr. Swainmn (' Journal of the Royal 

 Institution,' loc. cit.) observes that among the broad-billed ducks of 

 the aouthern hemisphere there i* a very remarkable modification of 

 form. The breadth of the bill and the length of the laminae are 

 Dearly the aauie ; but the edge of the upper mandible, instead of 

 being smooth, a* in the European species, is furnished with a thin 

 mrmbranaceou* akin, which project* considerably, and hang* down 

 somewhat like a wattle on each side. Mr. Swainson propose* for 

 this form the sub-generic name above given, remarking that the bill 

 of the European Shoveler i* flexible, but that in this group it is 

 much more so. One specie*, he adds, described by authors under 

 the name of the Soft-Rilled Shoveler, can scarcely exhibit this 

 debility more than another before him when he wrote his paper : it 

 came, according to him, from the same country (Australia?), and 

 Menu to be undescribed. 



Bill of MalacurkytirhM, gwilnson. 



CkatUiodta (Swainnon). Mr. Swainson state* that the Gad wall 

 certainly makes as near an approach to the Shovrlers as any other 

 yet known. " The form of the bill, indeed, is no longer spatulate, or 

 perceptibly broader towards the end ; but the lamina; of the upper 

 mandible are still very fine, distinct, and more numerous than those 

 of any other form subsequently mentioned, for they project a full 

 tenth of an inch beyond the margin. The tail now begin* to be 

 lengthened, and in a new specie* from Africa (C. Copenrit), which I 

 have recently received, i* *o much attenuated, a* to evince an evident 

 affinity to the Pintail-Duck forming the sub-genus DajU'i of Dr. Leach." 



BUI of Cxtwall (CUitfiMfw), Swaiawa. 



rtfm (8wmmMo),UM Qadwall, or Oray. Thi* 1* theChipeau, 

 or Ridrao. of the French ; Anitra Montanara and Anatra Canapiglia 

 erf U. Italian.; SchwaMw-Ente and Orave MitUI-EaU. of th. Uerman.j 

 and T (on Hwyd Iwyd of the WJA. 



The following is the description of a mule killed on the Saskatche- 

 wan, May 22, 1827 : Top of the head and napo liver-brown, edged 

 with gray ; head beneath and neck gray, with small brown speck* ; 

 bane of the neck above and below, anterior part of the back, exterior 

 scapulars, flanks, and aides of the vent, clove-brown, marked with 

 concentric horse-ahoe-*haped white lines ; interior sc.ipulan, lesser 

 covert*, primaries, tertiaries, and tail, hair-brown ; intermediate covert* 

 chestnut-brown ; greater covert*, rump, and upper and under tail- 

 coverts, bluish-black ; speculum white, its anterior border black ; 

 lower part of the breast; middle of the belly, and under surface of 

 the wings, white ; bill brownish-black, polo beneath ; leg* orange- 

 coloured. 



The bill as long as the head, of equal breadth and height at tha 

 rictus ; depressed, but not widening anteriorly ; lamina) of the 

 mandible* rather stronger and much shorter than those of the 

 Shoveler, but finer and more numerous than those of any northern 

 specie*. The upper one* project a full tenth of an inch beyond the 

 margin. Wings nearly equal to the tail ; first and second quills 

 equal and largest; tail consisting of 16 feathers, the lateral one* 

 graduated; total length 23 inches, Ac. (Kicbardsnu). Size rather less 

 than that of the widgeon. Temminck makes the length 18 or 19 

 inches. The female has the feathers of the back of a blockish-brown, 

 bordered by bright ruddy (roux) ; the breast reddish-brown, marked 

 with black spot* ; no zigzags on the flanks ; rump and lower covert* 

 of the tail grayish. The trachea of the male is slightly enlarged in 

 its diameter at about two-thirds of its length, but becomes narrower 

 a* it approaches the lower larynx : this consists of a large bony arch, 

 with a globular or rather pyriform bladder attached to the left side, 

 lent; in shape much like that of the common mallard, but smaller. 



CiuUWUll (CfiUMllvfttll Stu i 



This bird inhabits the marshes, &c. of the north and east of 

 Europe, and is very abundant in Holland. It is rarely seen in the 

 British Islands except at the period of its vernal migration, and 

 then generally in the marshes of Norfolk. It is common in winter on 

 the maritime coast* of France; rare in tbe interior. Bonaparte 

 (' Speech io Comparative') notes it a* rather common in the neighbour- 

 hood of Rome in the winter. 



It feed* on fishes, molluiks (coquillnges), insect*, and aquatic plants. 

 (Temminck.) Iniecta and their larva;, aquatic plant*, and seed*. 

 (Selby.) 



It makes it* nest in the most covered part of marshes, or nisliy 

 meads, and lays 8 or 9 eggs of a greenish-ash, according to Temminck ; 

 10 to 12 egg* of a pole oil-green. (Selby.) 



Mr. Swainon observe* that nature has now so for receded from the 

 typical form that one of the chief peculiarities of that structure in 

 nearly lost, and another considerably modified. The lamina} of the 

 upper mandible, which in C. itrepera are so much sh"it' r Hi m those 

 of the true Khovelers, and are so much abbreviated in C. Capeniit, 

 become almost concealed by the margin of the bill in Dafla. " The 

 rnott striking characteristic therefore of the genus we are now con- 

 sidering," continue* Mr. Swainson, " has nearly disappeared, precisely 

 in that form whirli is farthest removed from the type. But the shape 

 of the bill, although essentially modified, has not undergone a total 

 (Iteration ; iU breadth towards the tip is not only as great a* at the 

 base, but is even more dilated ; so that in this respect it resembles 

 the Slmvelers more than the Oadwalls, while it differs from both in 

 being higher at it* base, considerably more lengthened in proportion, 

 and much more convex throughout. It assumes, in short, a semi- 

 cylindrical form, the end being particularly obtuse and slightly dilated ; 

 the precise point of junction between the Pintails and that group 

 which was known to the ancient* by the name of Soicfuu." 



