Food. 
Nest, &c. 
298 NATATORES. SPATHULEA. SHOVELLER. 
favourable circumstances, as Mr Youve tz, out of between 
twenty and thirty eggs that were hatched, only succeeded in 
rearing two birds, both of which even died before they were 
twelve months old. He contradicts the assertion repeated by 
most of our compilers, that the bill of the young, when first 
hatched, is as broad as the body, and quite out of proportion 
to the size of the bird ; stating, that at a few days old, the 
bill is not larger than that of a common duckling, though 
in three or four weeks it acquires its peculiar form and rela- 
tive proportion.—This species inhabits the marshes, lakes, 
and rivers of the interior of the country ; is seldom found 
on the sea-coast, and then only where the beach is of an oozy 
nature.—Its principal food consists of small worms, and the 
larvee of insects, which it sifts from the mud, by its singular 
spoon-shaped bill, each mandible of which is bordered with 
very delicate and close-set lamellae, which Witson (with his 
usual aptness of illustration) has compared to a weaver’s 
reed. ‘These fit beautifully into each other, forming a kind 
of sieve, by which the bird is capable of separating what is 
fit for food, and rejecting through their interstices the mud 
and other superfluous matter.—It breeds in the central parts 
of marshes, forming its nest in the tufts of coarse herbage 
common to such situations, and laying from ten to twelve 
eggs of an oil-green colour. The lower larynx, or bone of 
divarication, of the male bird, is slightly enlarged, and fur- 
nished on the left side with a small thin and bony bladder, 
rather irregular in shape, and not above one-third larger 
than that of the Teal. The trachea is nearly of equal dia_ 
meter throughout its length. The intestines are long, mea- 
suring from nine to ten feet. The flesh of the Shoveller is 
very delicate and well-flavoured, and, in consequence, highly 
esteemed for the table. With respect to its geographical 
distribution, this species is widely disseminated on the conti- 
nental parts of Europe, being abundant in France, Holland, 
Germany, and other states. It is also found throughout a 
great part of Asia; and in America, where it appears in no 
