ANATIDA. Al] 
THE SHOVELER. 
SPATULA CLYPEATA (Linnzus). 
This species—sometimes called the “Spoon-bill” or “ Broad- 
bill ”—is chiefly a visitor to this country during cold weather ; but 
since the Act for the Preservation of Wild Fowl was passed in 1876 
increasing numbers have remained to breed with us, though less 
frequently in our southern and western counties, where localities 
suited to their habits are few. It nests regularly in some parts of 
Norfolk and Lincolnshire, and sparingly in Yorkshire, Durham and 
Northumberland ; while in Nottinghamshire and some parts of the 
Midlands it is becoming more abundant ; and, though rarer in Wales, 
and on the west side of England, a few pairs inhabit the marshes 
on the Cumberland side of the Solway. In Scotland it nests in 
Kirkcudbrightshire, Roxburgh, and some other southern counties, but 
its principal breeding-haunts are between the Forth and Tay, while 
nests have been found up to Sutherland and the Orkneys, as well 
as on Tiree in the Inner Hebrides, though the bird is almost 
unknown in the Outer islands (W. Evans). In Ireland it is not 
uncommon in the south, and nests freely in Queen’s Co., Lough 
Derg on the Shannon, Lough Portmore in co. Antrim, in co. 
Dublin, and other localities. 
In summer the Shoveler seldom goes further north than the Arctic 
circle, but from Denmark, the Baltic, and even Archangel south- 
