230 THE BIRDS OF DETOX. 



on behalf of !Mi\ Henry Nicholls, to -whom it was given by his brother, 

 and in whose possession it now remains (R. P. N. in lift. ; H. N., Zool. 

 1880, p. 70; Tield,' January 3rd, 1880; H. Saunders, 'Manual of B. 

 Birds,' p, 421). Only two other specimens are known to have occurred 

 in England, but this American Teal has been admitted into the British 

 List both by Mr. H. Saunders (oj>. cit.) and the Committee of the British 

 Ornithologists' Union. 



Shoveller. Sjjahda chjimda (Linn.). 



A winter visitor, occurring occasionally from September to April, but 

 seldom in any numbers. It is usually met with in small flocks in the 

 winter months, and in pairs in the spring, but Montagu describes a speci- 

 men which " was shot on a freshwater lake on the south coast of Devon, 

 August 5th, 1807." 



This singular and handsome Duck is a widely diffused species, being 

 found throughout the northern hemisphere, and is a regular winter visitor 

 to the north of Devon, and a season seldom passes without one or two 

 being shot in the Barnstaple river ; but it never occurs there in large 

 flocks ; two or three, at the most, being seen together, or single birds in 

 company with Wigeon or AVild Duck. In our opinion, the Shoveller is 

 one of the most palatable of all the wild-fowl, the flesh being remarkably 

 sweet and tender. This, of course, apjdics to it only as long as it continues 

 to feed on freshwater ponds ; directly it betakes itself to the sea-coast, it 

 becomes, like all other wild-fowl to be found there, rank and uneatable. 

 We know of no instance of the Shovellei''s nest having been obtained in 

 Devonshire, but it has been detected breeding both in Somerset and Dorset. 

 The late !Mr. John Marshall, of Belmont, Taunton, received eggs of the 

 Shoveller from North Curry Moor, a little to the east of his town, one of 

 Avhich he was good enough to present to us for our collection ; and the 

 same season several flapper Shovellers, which bad been sent in from the 

 neighbouring peat-moors, were exposed for sale on one of the stalls in 

 Taunton market. At the time we resided at Weston-super-Mare we 

 frequently visited the peat-moors between Highbridge and Glastonbury to 

 shoot Snipe, and one winter's morning received a letter from a keeper on 

 one of tlie fens we had permission to trj-, begging us to come at ouce, as 

 a flock of "Spoonbills" had appeared. Considerably fluttered by this 

 exciting news we managed to make an earl}- start, and finding the moor 

 a little wetter than usual, at last had six or seven Ducks pointed out to us, 

 quite out of reach on the flooded ground, as the " Spoonbills," and then 

 discovered that this was only the local name given to the Shoveller, and 

 that oiir expectations of seeing Platcdea leiicorodia were not to be realized. 

 Handsome drake Shovellers were frequently sent in by the peat-moor 

 gunners to the game-dealer at "Weston-super-Mare, and the bird seemed 

 to be far from uncommon on the fen in the winter-lime. One spring two 

 ])airs made their a])pcarance on the lake at Sandhill Bark, near Taunton, 

 and we were in hopes they would have remained to breed, but after 



