NESTING OF THE SHOVELLER DUCK. 



The Shoveller or Spoonbill Duck is a 

 common migrant in Illinois and Indiana. 

 It has been reported as a summer resi- 

 dent and breeder of Lake and Stark 

 counties, Indiana. One nest discovered 

 May 4, 1890, at English Lake, Starke 

 county, was situated amongst a clump 

 of willows bordering a wet meadow, and 

 contained nine fresh eggs. The fact that 

 this bird has been observed in Cook coun- 

 ty, Illinois, late in May, would tend to 

 show that the Shoveller has probably 

 nested in the vicinity of Chicago. How- 

 ever, these may have been "cripples" 

 and unable to proceed to their natural 

 nesting grounds further north, though 

 its breeding range in North America ex- 

 tends from Texas to Hudson Bay and 

 Alaska. Streams whose banks are 

 fringed with wild rose bushes and buck 

 brush, or a grassy slope adjoining a 

 small body of water, are the favorite 

 nesting places of the Shoveller. 



In North Dakota I found this Duck 

 to be very unsuspicious during the nest- 

 ing season, preferring the small ponds 

 and coulees back from the main lakes, 

 where I often surprised them swimming 

 in company with the bluewing teal. Both 

 the Shoveller and teal are excellent ex- 

 amples of our true pond or river ducks 

 and their greatest delight is to lurk along 

 the borders of some boggy lagoon, where 

 they feed either by "dipping" in the shal- 

 low water or by "dabbling" in the soft, 

 slimy mud, for which purpose the bill 

 of the former is especially adapted. 



The female is very bold in the de- 

 fense of her young. I surprised a moth- 

 er and her ducklings, one afternoon, 

 while I was exploring along the border 

 of a small pond. They were mere balls 

 of down, just out of the shell, and she 

 was probably leading them from the nest 



to give them their initial "ducking." Be- 

 fore I could get to her she reached the 

 water's edge with her progeny and from 

 the way those little fellows scampered 

 out of sight among the reeds, it was 

 quite evident that they required no les- 

 sons in the art of swimming. In the 

 meantime the parent bird was making 

 herself conspicuous, throwing a spray in 

 ever}' direction as she splashed about in 

 the water, keeping up a continual "quack- 

 ing" until I withdrew from the spot. 



Usually a nest is formed by scraping 

 together a small quantity of grass and 

 stems, under which each egg is buried 

 until the full complement, varying from 

 seven to ten in number, is laid. The fe- 

 male then uncovers her eggs and pro- 

 ceeds to incubate, each day adding to 

 the wannth and beauty of her treasures 

 by plucking the dark down from her 

 breast and arranging it about the eggs, 

 still taking the precaution of concealing 

 them before leaving the nest, which she 

 does only to obtain a few morsels from 

 I he lake close by where no doubt her 

 mate is anxiously awaiting. Shovellers 

 are very close sitters, and it is not an 

 uncommon occurrence to capture the par- 

 ent bird on her nest. 



In order to obtain a perfect "set" free 

 from "nest stains," I took the nest and 

 eggs here pictured, when nearly fresh, 

 hence the scarcit\' of down in the nest. 

 This would not have occurred had the 

 bird been permitted to sit a week or two, 

 before being disturbed. However, this 

 would probably have destroyed, to a cer- 

 tain extent, the natural tint in the eggs, 

 which is a peculiar, dull grayish green, 

 elliptical or nearly so in shape, with an 

 average size of two and one-tenth inches 

 in length by one and one-half inches in 

 width. 



Gerard Alan Abbott. 



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