74 ANATIDiE. 



This bird is occasionally shot iu Westmeath, and visits Wex- 

 ford harbour (whence at least half-a-dozen are brought to market 

 every winter), where it bears the name of inaiden-ducJcJ^ At Water- 

 ford, it is called wldnyard — a name applied to a knife and a sword 

 of a peculiar shape, resembling the shoveller's bill in form.f 

 One of these birds was shot in the harbour of Cork, in January, 

 and another (adult) in April, 1846. One or two, at most, are seen 

 in Cork market every winter, adults as frequently as young.J 

 Two were shot in the winter of 1836-37, near Tralee, where a 

 few occasionally appear, § and the species is sometimes seen on 

 the river Shannon. The term "whinyard^^ reminds me of the 

 " whinnard" noticed in Mason's ' Statistical Account of Ireland' 

 (vol. iii. p. 400), by the Rev. William Eastwood, in his obser- 

 vations on the wild-fowl of Wexford harbour. " The average 

 prices," he remarks, "may be thus : — barnacle [brent geese], 6s. ; 

 whinnard, 3s. ; wigeon, 2s. 6d. ; teal. Is. 8d. ; and duck (least 

 liked), 2s. a pair." The whinnard I presume to be the shoveller, 

 and it is not rated comparatively too high. A friend, who has 

 eaten of birds killed iu Belfast Bay, considered them the best 

 wild-fowl of which he ever partook ; and much better than teal. 

 They were thickly covered with fat, of a delicate flavour. Authors 

 on both sides of the Atlantic bear testimony to the superior quality 

 of the shoveller as an article of food. Wilson speaks of " the ex- 

 cellence of its flesh, which is uniformly juicy, tender, and well- 

 tasted" (vol. iii. p. 87, Jardine's edit.). Audubon even prefers 

 it to the canvas-back duck, so celebrated for its gastronomic vir- 

 tues. The latter author gives, from personal observation, some 

 very interesting particulars of the species, vol. iv. p. 241. 



The shoveller is perhaps about equally common in England and 

 Ireland ; but much less so in Scotland than in the latter island. 

 To Mr. Macgillivray it was even unknown there when his 

 Manual was written (vol. ii. p. 172), and it does not appear in 

 Mr. St. John's copious list of the birds of Sutherland. || Sir 



* Mr. J. Poole. f Mr. 11. BaU. ; Dr. J. R. Harvey, 1850. 



§ Mr.T. F. Neligan. |1 'Tour in Sutherland,' vol. i. ^. 140. 



