102 



ISTo. 91. — PoRPHYRio MELANOTUS, Temm. 



(See also Yol. ii., p. 71.) 



The nest which is figured on Plate X. was procured from the swamp by 

 Lake Ellesmere ; it was firmly built of the leaves of a Carex, and formed 

 a compact mass, some eight inches in height, not very easily to be distinguished, 

 as the material of the nest was as green as the surrounding grasses. The eggs 

 are often sucked by the harrier, whose keen sight discovers the very inartificial 

 structure of the Pukeko ; on examining a nest after a harrier's visit, we have 

 observed that the contents of the egg have been extracted through a long hole 

 made at the bilge of the egg. Few birds more frequently become the prey of 

 the harrier than this wader. 



No. 95. — Spatula variegata, Gould. 

 Shovelor. 



One of the handsomest and perhaps also one of the least known amongst our 

 grouj) of Anatidce is the Shovelor ; the vai'iegated plumage, dark ruddy breast, 

 and bright blue wing of the drake, exhibit one of those instances — as in the 

 case of the mallard, at home — in which nature, for its own special reasons, 

 lavishes much beauty of colour on the male, whilst the female is clothed with 

 feathers of a far less attractive hue. In the case of the Shovelor, may not 

 this remarkable distinction in the plumage of the sexes be regarded as 

 a protection for the eggs during the period of incubation, rendering the 

 female less liable to observation than if she was arrayed with brighter 

 coloui's, with which she could scarcely elude the keen vision of the harriers, 

 the most successful of egg-i-obbers. A habit of this duck would appear 

 confirmatory of this view ; \\!Q have repeatedly noticed in the breeding season 

 that the groups of Shovelors which dot the lakes, here and there, are nearly 

 all drakes, a fact that indicates thtit the male bird has little, if anything, to do 

 with the nest or the labour of incubation. It is very generally distiibuted 

 over the country, although large numbers are only to be met with in cei'tain 

 localities in the ITorth Island, where it is in some j^arts, or has been, of 

 common occurrence ; for, in the season, numbers Avere to be seen hanging up 

 in the poulterers' shops in Wellington, which had been brought to that market 

 by the steamers from Hawke's Bay ; we say has been, as the supply appears to 

 have failed ; for the past two winters we have certainly missed the Shovelors. 

 For some years after settling here, we regarded this bird as quite a 

 rara avis, we observed it so very seldom, and then only in the neighbourhood of 

 the Rakaia ; it is now much oftener met with than was formerly the case. On 

 the wide expanse of Lake Ellesmere, and the less extensive mountain lakes 

 in the Ashburton country, it is frequently seen in considerable numbers ; 

 occasionally specimens have been obtained near Christchurch . 



