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authors on Greek ornithology speak of it as one of the commonest species found there in the 

 winter. The same is said by Messrs. Elwes and Buckley as regards its occurrence in Turkey ; but 

 they add that it probably breeds there. My friend the Bitter von Tschusi Schmidhofen writes 

 that "it is not rare. and breeds in Bohemia. In the Tyrol it arrives in October and November, 

 and frequents the lakes during the winter, migrating northward again in February. In Southern 

 Styria it is rare, and its occurrences are irregular ; in Northern Styria it occurs tolerably often in 

 the spring, but rarely in the autumn ; in Siebenbiirgen it is not rare during the two seasons of 

 migration." Fritsch records it as breeding in some parts of Bohemia, as, for instance, the ponds 

 of Zvolenover and Tizziner, near Frauenberg, near Jicin, and even close to Prague, at Konigssaal. 

 It arrives in numbers from the north in October ; and those which do not remain to breed leave 

 in February and March. 



Mr. G. Cavendish Taylor met with it in the Crimea ; and Professor von Nordmann, who 

 found it breeding near Pizounda, in Abasia, records it as common throughout Southern Russia. 

 Canon Tristram observed it in Palestine ; and Captain Shelley writes that " the Shoveller is a 

 resident in Egypt and Nubia, and is one of the most abundant species of Duck in the country. 

 They prefer the smaller pools and the banks of the lakes and river, are less shy than the other 

 species of water-fowl, and are therefore most frequently shot, though they are very inferior 

 eating. They are very late in assuming their breeding-plumage; for I have frequently shot 

 them in April still in moult." Jesse saw a flock at Senafe ; and Von Heuglin refers to it as a 

 permanent inhabitant of Abyssinia. Mr. Salvin observed it at Zana, in the Eastern Atlas. 

 Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., found it in the market of Algiers; and Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake 

 records it as not rare in Morocco, and usually met with in small pools in the open country. It 

 does not extend its range down to Southern Africa. 



To the eastward it is found as far as China and Japan. Messrs. Dickson and Ross obtained 

 it at Erzeroom in April. Dr. Leith Adams found it common in Cashmere throughout the year ; 

 all the writers on Indian ornithology refer to it as a winter visitor ; and Mr. Holdsworth met 

 with it in Ceylon. Dr. Jerdon writes that " it occurs throughout India in the cold weather in 

 small parties, often mixed with Gadwalls and other species, feeding near the edges of tanks, in 

 shallow water, among weeds, chiefly on minute worms and larvae, which it sifts from the mud. 

 It is often late in leaving this country." It is referred to by the Russian travellers in Siberia. 

 Dr. G. Radde saw it in the market at Irkutsk in September, and writes that at the Tarei-nor the 

 first arrived on the 7th of April, and until the 12th of May they remained in flocks. He shot 

 several males in the Bureja Mountains on the 7th of May. Von Middendorff did not observe it; 

 but Dr. Stubendorff sent a pair to him which he shot in the Sajan Mountains on the 7th of May ; 

 and Von Schrenck obtained specimens near the mouth of the Amoor, at Kalgho and Wair, in 

 May. Mr. R. Swinhoe obtained it in Hongkong and Foochow, in China, and also at Amoy, and 

 records it as " abundant in South China and Formosa in winter." Mr. H. Whitely obtained a 

 female at Hakodadi in October 1864 ; and Temminck and Schlegel record it as very abundant in 

 Japan. I may also add that Dr. Dybowski found it breeding in Dauria ; and Mr. Gould records 

 one as having been obtained in Australia by Mr. Coxen, of Yarrundi, which unfortunately was 

 destroyed by rats. In America it is very widely distributed, being found from Alaska far down 

 into Central America. Mr. Dall (Tr. Chic. A. S. i. p. 297) writes that " this species is said to breed at 



