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SHOVELLER DUCK. 
ANAS CLYPEATA, LINN. 
PLATE CCCXXVII. Mate anp Femate. 
Tue Creoles of Louisiana are well acquainted with this species, un- 
der the name of “ Micoine,” the etymology of which I am unable to 
trace. In that country it arrives, both from the westward and from 
the eastern inland districts, along with the Blue-winged eal, or at the 
commencement of autumn. It associates with that species, to which, as 
well as to the Green-winged, the Mallard, the Dusky Duck, and the 
Gadwall, I should consider it very nearly allied, notwithstanding the 
peculiar expansion of its bill. The Shovellers remain in the lower 
parts of Louisiana during the whole of the winter, and depart along 
with the Blue-wings between the end of April and the middle of May. 
There, in early spring, they resort chiefly to ponds, where they feed on 
grasses and their seeds, as well as at times a small kind of onion, the 
bulbs of which they pull up from the moist grounds on their margins. 
This may perhaps to some seem strange, but I have long since made 
up my mind to learn from Nature, and believe what is, rather than 
what philosophers imagine ought to be. Having fed through the 
night, they collect towards dawn into large bands, and betake them- 
selves to the margins of sand-bars on the Mississippi, where they spend 
the greater part of the day. At other times I have found them swim- 
ming or wading along the muddy margins of ponds and streams, im- 
mersing the head and part of the neck while alternately moving the 
bill to either side, in the manner of the Roseate Spoonbill, sifting as it 
were the contents of the soft mud or water, and ejecting the substances 
unfit for food. Repeated inspection of the stomach has shewn me that 
the Shoveller is not more nice as to the quality of its food than the 
Mallard or any other of the Duck tribe, for I have found in it leeches, 
small fishes, large ground-worms, and snails. ‘They never however, 
I believe, feed by semi-immersion, like the Mallards and Teais; nor 
do they dive unless hard pressed, or when in a sportive mood, when 
they will dash for a moment beneath the surface. 
VOL. Iv. 
