DUCKS AND GEESE 67 



the canvas-back and blue and green-winged teal. These 

 birds are prized by epicures, but fortunatelj^ they prefer 

 mild climates, and many of them leave the haunts of the 

 sportsman before the opening of the game season. 



The males are beautiful birds, having plumage unlike 

 that of any other waterfowl. Cinnamon teals are found 

 on both fresh and salt water, but retreat to clear pools and 

 streams to breed. They breed commonly in California and 

 the Salt Lake region of Utah. The nests are placed on 

 dry ground, usually in a thick clump of grass; six to twelve 

 cream-colored eggs are laid from May 1st to June 10th. 



SHOVELER 



The Shoveler, or Spoonbill, is a bird of wide distribu- 

 tion, inhabiting all the continents and breeding in the north- 

 ern portions of both hemispheres. It is a bird of striking 

 individuality. The remarkable bill, the distinguishing fea- 

 ture, broadens at the end until it exceeds twice the width 

 of the base, and assumes a spoon shape. Like other pond 

 and river ducks, it is most abundant about fresh water. 



It is a common summer resident of Minnesota and the 

 Dakotas, thence it ranges northward through ^Manitoba, 

 Assiniboia, and Alberta. During their semi-annual passage 

 through Illinois, small flocks of shovelers are frequently 

 seen on the Illinois and Kankakee rivers and on Lake 

 Calumet. Usually they arrive from the south in ^March 

 and by April the majority have paired, and soon move 

 northward. In September and October its southern migra- 

 tion takes place to southern United States; it may occa- 



