318 BRITISH BIRDS. 



disposition of the markings of their rich-coloured 

 plumage. All, however, agree in ranking the 

 Shoveler among the most beautiful of the Duck 

 tribe; and it is also, in the opinion of many, 

 inferior to none of them in the delicate flavour of 

 its flesh, which is red, juicy, and tender. 



The Shoveler is a scarce bird in the north of 

 England, although a few have been known to re- 

 main throughout the year to breed. According to 

 M. Baillon,* they are not uncommon in France, 

 where they arrive about the month of February, 

 disperse in the marshes, and a part of them hatch 

 every year. He remarks that hardly any are ever 

 seen during the winter. They are said to be met 

 with in Scania and Gothland, and in most parts of 

 Germany, Russia, and Kamtschatka; and also, in 

 the winter months, in New York and Carolina, in 

 America. 



This species is of so wild, shy, and solitary a 

 disposition, that all attempts hitherto made to 

 domesticate them have failed. This work was 

 favoured with the bird from which the foregoing 

 figure and description were taken, by the author's 

 friends at Cambridge. 



The ^Luas iiiuscaria of Linnaeus (Lc Souchet a 

 venire blanc of Brisson) differs only from this in 

 having the belly white, and is considered merely as 

 a variety of the same species. The Red-breasted 

 Shoveler, (Anas rubeus, Turt. Linn.) hitherto 

 described as a distinct species, is, according to 

 Montagu, the Blue-winged or Common Shoveler; 

 the double moulting having led to the mistake. 

 Temminck confirms this opinion. 



* The friend and correspondent of Count de Buff on. 



