172 ANATINJE. RHYNCHASPIS. 



longest ; inner secondaries elongated and tapering ; tail small, 

 much rounded, of fourteen stiifish, tapering feathers. 



In this genus the lamellae of the mandibles receive their 

 highest degree of development as to elongation. They ap- 

 pear to be thus modified to be adapted for separating from 

 the mud the insects, mollusca, worms, and the like, on which, 

 more than on vegetable substances, the Shovel-Bills feed. 

 The male is larger, and more highly coloured than the 

 female. 



251. RHYNCHASPIS CLYPEATA. BLUE- WINGED SHOVEL- 

 BILL. 



Male with the bill greyish-black, two inches and a half 

 long, an inch and a quarter in breadth near the end; feet 

 orange-red; head and upper neck glossed with green and 

 purple ; lower neck white ; breast purplish-chestnut ; back 

 greenish-black ; smaller wing-coverts light blue ; scapulars 

 white, greenish-black and pale blue ; speculum bright green, 

 margined anteriorly with white ; tail short, much rounded, 

 of fourteen pointed feathers. Female with the bill dusky 

 above, reddish-brown beneath ; the head and upper neck pale 

 reddish, streaked with dusky, the lower neck and breast simi- 

 lar, with dusky spots ; feathers of the upper parts blackish- 

 brown, edged with reddish-white ; smaller wing-coverts faint- 

 ly tinged with light blue ; speculum duller and of less extent 

 than in the male. 



Male, 20, 32, 9j, 1&, 1 T V, IT*, T 5 5 . Female, 18, 29. 



Rare in Britain, where it is met with chiefly in winter, 

 and for the most part in the eastern counties. Some pairs 

 remain and breed in the marshy parts of the county of Nor- 

 folk. In Scotland it has not, I believe, been met with. It 

 is said to be common in Holland, France, and Germany, and 

 to occur in various parts of Asia, Africa, and America. The 

 nest is placed on the ground, among rushes or other tall 

 plants. The eggs, ten or twelve, are greenish-white, two 

 inches and two- twelfths in length, an inch and a half in 

 breadth. 



Shoveller. Broad-bill. Red-breasted or Blue-winged 

 Shoveller. 



Anas clypeata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 200. Anas clypeata, 

 Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 856. Anas clypeata, Temm. Man. 

 d'Ornith. ii. 842. Rhynchaspis clypeata, Blue-winged Shovel- 

 bill, MacGillivray, Brit, Birds, v. 



