1088 SPATULA CLYPEATA. 



some trifling differences in the bill, that the nostrils are larger, and the middle toe longer. I think it therefore 

 extremely probable that the Cape Shoveller is the same as the common and widely-distributed form. 



Other species are : — the Australian Shoveller (S. rhynchotis, Lath.). In this the under surface in the male is chestnut, 

 with crescentic bands of black ; the face is green, with a white band from the lores to the throat ; wing-coverts 

 slate-blue, with a broad wing-bar. The absence of the white chest is the most characteristic difference. 



,S'. variegata, Gould, is peculiar to New Zealand, being there the representative of S. rhynchotis ; it has the white facial 

 band, the chest, breast, and scapulars whitish, with crescentic margins of'black to the feathers. 



S. platalea, Vieill., the South-American Shoveller, is ruddy above and beneath, with white spots on the head ; lesser 

 wing-coverts blue, median white. " Wing 8*0, bill to gape 2-7 " (Sclater). 



Distribution. — This remarkable and almost cosmopolitan Duck is a not unfrequent winter visitor to 

 Ceylon. I have not met with it myself, but Mr. G. Simpson informs me that it comes in large numbers to 

 Delft and the Palverainkadoo and Mullaittivu lagoons, remaining during the same period as the Teal and Pin- 

 tail. Layard not only discovered it one year near Jaffna, but found it breeding there at the Chavagacherry 

 lagoon in March. He there met with a female with twelve young ones, most of which he captured, and in 

 the month of November he obtained specimens from native shooters. Its breeding in these latitudes must be 

 considered a most abnormal circumstance. 



In India it is a very common bird in some parts, being in Guzerat, writes Capt. Butler, one of the most 

 abundant Ducks. Mr. Hume met with it on large lakes in Sindh, and on the rivers Jhelum, Chenab, and 

 Indus. It is common in Kuteh, Kattiawar, and Jodhpoor, and at the Sambhur Lake is very plentiful. It is 

 a winter visitor to the valley of Nepal, writes Dr. Scully, and is common there in migration to and from the 

 Plains. In Lower Bengal it is pretty common ; but in the Chota-Nagpur division it is rare, being recorded by 

 .Mr. Ball only from the Rajmehal hills, Manbhum, Orissa, and Jaipur. In the Deccan it is not uncommon in 



a stripe between the chestnut, and toning clown on the lower part of the hind neck and throat into deep glossy 

 brown, which pales on the interscapular^ region and scapulars into chestnut-brown; lower back, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts black-brown ; wing-coverts light earthy brown, with the margin of the wing, as also a patch at the 

 origin of the scapulars, white ; secondaries white, tipped with dark brown ; primaries white, with the termiual 

 portions and the outer webs of the first three dark brown, continued as an edging on the next two ; tail dark 

 brown, the lateral feathers whitish near the tips ; beneath, the dark brown of the chest pales somewhat on the 

 under surface, where the feathers are pale-edged, and intensifies again on the vent and under tail-coverts, which 

 are blackish brown ; middle of flanks and the sides of the central parts of the breast white, the feathers tipped 

 with brownish ; axillaries and under wing white. 

 This plumage is worn till the following June or beginning of July, and the male then assumes a livery resembling 

 that of the female ; but said to be distinguished from the latter by the brighter-coloured bill and iris, the 

 darker and more rusty hue of the head and the throat, and the more bushy crest, the dark brown of the upper 

 and under tail-coverts and belly, the clear grey wing-coverts, the greyer and whiter-tipped tail-feathers, and the 

 redder feet. 



Adult female (Sicily). Wing 0-3 inches ; tail 3-2 ; tarsus 1*5 ; middle toe 2 - 4 ; bill to gape (straight) 2-05. 



Iris yellow ; bill brownish red above, fleshy beneath, nail brown ; legs and feet murky yellow. 



Head and occiput russet-brown, the feathers thick and bushy, but not erect ; hind neck, interscapular region, scapulars, 

 and wing-coverts pale olive-brown, darkening on the lower back and upper tail-coverts, the latter of which are 

 yellowish brown at the tips and sides ; secondaries sullied white, brownish near the tips, which are pure white ; 

 primaries buff-white, dark brown at the tips, and the outer webs of the 1st four quills brown ; winglet and primary- 

 coverts browner ; tail light brown, tipped pale ; throat white ; under surface brown, the feathers deeply tipped 

 with greyish white, blending into the darker colour, which is most prominent on the chest ; axillaries pure white ; 

 under wing whitish, tinged with brown beneath the anterior edge. 



} oung in clown. Has a "double olive-grey stripe from the lores, dividing before the eye, and bordering the yellowish- 

 grey eyebrow above and the cheeks and auriculars below ; upper parts, crown from the base of the bill, nape, 



