SPECIES 4. ANAS CLYPEATrf. 



SHOVELLER. 

 [Plate LX VII. Fig. 7.] 



Le Souchet, BRISS. vi, p. 329. 6. pi. 32. fig. 1, BUFF, ix, 191. 

 PL Enl. 971. Arct. Zool JVo. 485. CATESB. i, pi. 96, female. 

 LATH. Syn. in, p. 509. PEALE'S Museum, JVo. 2734.* 



IF we except the singularly formed and disproportionate size 

 of the bill, there are few Ducks more beautiful, or more ele- 

 gantly marked than this. The excellence of its flesh, which is 

 uniformly juicy, tender, and well tasted, is another recommen- 

 dation to which it is equally entitled. It occasionally visits the 

 seacoast; but is more commonly found on our lakes and rivers, 

 particularly along their muddy shores, where it spends great 

 part of its time in searching for small worms, and the larvae of 

 insects, sifting the watery mud through the long and finely set 

 teeth of its curious bill, which is admirably constructed for the 

 purpose; being large, to receive a considerable quantity of mat- 

 ter, each mandible bordered with close-set, pectinated rows, 

 exactly resembling those of a weaver's reed, which fitting into 

 each other form a kind of sieve, capable of retaining very mi- 

 nute worms, seeds, or insects, which constitute the principal 

 food of the bird. 



The Shoveller visits us only in the winter, and is not known 

 to breed in any part of the United States. It is a common bird 



* We add the following Synonymes. Anasclypeala, GMEL. Syst. r, p. 518, 

 No. 19. # Mexicana, Id. p. 519, JVo. 81? ,#. rubens, Id. JVb. 82. LATH. Ind. 

 Oni. p. 856, JVb. 60; p. 857, JVb. 61, JVb. 62. Gen. Syn. m,p. 511, JVb. 56; p. 

 51-2, JVb. 57. Blue-wing shoveller, CATESBY, i, pi. 96, female. Br. Zool. No. 

 280, No. 281. Le Souchet du Mexique, BEISS. vi,/>. 337. Le Canard Sauvagt 

 duMexique, Id. p. 327. No. 5. Canard Souchet, TEMM. Jlflm. d'Orn. p. 842. 

 BEWICK, u, p.. 310, 313. PEALE'S JMuscum, No. 2735, female. 



