354 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



Genus SPATULA, Boie. 



Bill longer than the head, narrowed at the base; the cul- 

 men straight, depressed, and the side much dilated for nearly 

 half its length from the tip, which is furnished with a small 

 hooked nail ; the lamellae of the upper mandible very slender 

 and long, especially near the middle, those of the lower 

 mandible concealed by the lateral margins of the upper, but 

 also very slender and lengthened ; the nostrils placed near 

 the base, small and oval; wings lengthened and pointed, with 

 the first two quills of nearly equal length ; tail moderate, and 

 somewhat pointed ; tarsi shorter than the middle toe ; toes 

 united by a full web ; and the hind toe short, and slightly 

 lobed. 



658. Rhynchapsis Oapensis, Smith., Zooi. a 



Af., PL 98 ; Ey ton's Anat, p. 135 ; The Gape Shoveler. 

 GENERAL colour above and below, dark-brown, each feather 

 being bordered with dirty-white, thus imparting to the bird a 

 scaled appearance; shoulder blue, succeeded by a bar of 

 white, and then by another of shining-green, on the inner 

 side of which there is a patch of blue ; head grey, finely 

 mottled with dark- brown speckles. The female is much less 

 brilliantly coloured. Length, 21" ; wing, 9J" ; tail, 3f ". 



The " Cape Shoveler " is rarely seen in the neighbourhood of Cape 

 Town ; but when the E. Maccoa and N. Brunnea, hereafter mentioned, 

 appeared there in such numbers, the Shoveler accompanied them. Ita 

 aasual habitat is Verloren Vley. Hartlaub states (Orn. W. Af., p. 248), 

 that the European Shoveler has been found in South Africa. Surely 

 this must be the species alluded to. My son captured a wounded bird 

 near Salt Eiver in November, 1865. 



The Sub-Family, FULIGULIN^S, or Sea-Ducks, 



have the bill of various lengths, elevated at the base, and 

 more or less broad and depressed towards the tip, which is 

 armed with a broad strong nail ; wings moderate and 

 pointed; tail generally short, more or less wedge shaped ; the 

 tarsi much shorter than the middle toe, and compressed ; toes 

 long, and united by a full web; the outer as long as the 

 middle toe, the hind one short, and deeply margined with a 

 broad membranous web. 



Genns NYROCA, Fleming. 



Bill as long as the head, higher at the base than broad ; 

 the culmen gradually sloping towards the tip, which is 

 depressed, slightly dilated, and armed with a strong nail ; the 



