SPATULA RilYISCHOTIS. 



(Auslrallaii Shoveller.) 



Male. — Crown to the nape, lores, and stripe behind the neck, dark brown ; back and scapularies, brownish bhack— each feather edged with 

 reddish buff; a stripe of white runs from the front of the eye in a curved direction backwards down the sides of the upper part of the throat ; 

 face and sides of the neck, dark grey, suffused with green ; at the point where the neck joins the body is an indistinct ring of white, broadest 

 above and mottled Avith brown ; throat, brown, delicately streaked with whitish ; shoulders, lesser coverts, and outer edges and tips of some of 

 the tertiaries, greyish blue ; greater coverts, black, externally edged and tipped with pure white ; edge of wing, white, mottled with greyish 

 brown ; under surface of shoulder, pure white ; secondaries, brilliant metallic green ; primaries, brown ; the remainder of the tertiaries, green, 

 black, and white, arranged longitudinally in various proportions of color ; chest, buff, lunated with dark brown ; abdomen, rich chestnut red, 

 mottled with black, and banded with bkck on the flanks ; lower portion of the back, upper and under tail coverts, blackish brown, glossed 

 with green; tail, brown, very narrowly tipped with whitish; at the base of the tail, on either side, is a patch of white delicately mottled with 

 black ; irides, legs, and feet, yellow ; bill, purplish black. 



Female. ^ — Head and neck, buff, streaked with dark brown ; all the upper surface dark brown, each feather margined with 

 whitish brown ; wings, similar, but not so brilliant as in the male ; under surface, mottled brown and buff. 



Length, 20 inches ; wing, 9i ; tail, 3f ; bill, 2| ; tarsus, li ; mid-toe, 2i. 



The above description of the male is the plumage of the pairing season ; at other times it is very similar in appearance to the 

 female. It is found in almost every part of Australia, except, perhaps, the extreme north. It is frequently found in company with the 

 common black duck (Anas Superciliosa), and falls a victim to the gun of the sportsman more by accident than design. Its flesh is excellent. 

 The nest and eggs of this bird are still desiderata. 



SPATULA CLYPEATA. 



(European Shoveller.) 



^^ * 



Male.— Head and upper part of the neck, deep glossy green ; lower part of the back, breast, scapularies, and sides of the rump, white ; back, 

 blackish brown—each feather margined with grey and tinged with green; lesser wing coverts, and some of the scapularies, greyish blue; tips 

 of the larger coverts, white, forming a bar across the wing ; speculum, rich green ; tertials, rich purplish black, with a streak of white down 

 the centre; middle tail feathers, brown, edged with white; outer ones, entirely white; upper and under tail coverts, black, tinged with 

 green; under surface, reddish brown ; flanks and vent, pale brown, crossed by numerous irregular lines of black; bill, blackish brown; 

 legs, orange red. 



Female.— The whole of the upper surface, deep brown, each feather barred and margined with white. 



This is the description of the plumage at the termination of the breeding season, which, when over, gives place to the following :- 

 Male.-Cheeks, sides of the neck, and throat, reddish white, speckled with brown; crown of the head and nape of the neck, black, glossed 

 with green, and each feather with a paler margin; back and scapularies, deep brown, margined with pale yellowish brown; breast, mingled 

 yellowish brown and white ; abdomen, mingled yellow and orange brown. 



The above description is by Mr. Gould, whose attention was first directed to this species from a specimen m the possession of, 

 and shot by, the late Mr. Coxen, of Yarrundi. That eminent ornithologist at once perceived the difterence between it and the S. Ehynchotis, 

 and, after careful examination, found it to be identical with the European species. An accident occurring by which the specimen was lost, 

 precluded him from making use of it, and he never met with another. It doubtless is a rare and only occasional visitant to this country. 



