PINTAIL-DUCK 181 
all the teeming larva of flies and other insects that 
haunt shallow pools and puddles. 
THE SHOVELLER DUCK 
Spatula clypeata 
__ Plumage of back brown, becoming black as it approaches 
“the tail, which is also black with white edging to outer 
feathers; head and neck black with green metallic lustre ; 
chest and lower parts white ; the scapulars, long and pointed, 
are blue and black and white; wing has a metallic green 
bar, the small covert feathers are a very delicate blue-grey, 
and the flight feathers are dark brown ; the breast and flanks 
are a brilliant chestnut; legs orange; beak black; eyes 
brown. The female is a dull brown colour with dark spots, 
and its bill often has looked to me even larger than the 
male’s. Length, 20°5 inches. 
THE outstanding peculiarity of the Shoveller, male 
and female, is the large bill. Seen very near at 
hand it looks both large and clumsy, but it is a bill 
not made for ornament but for business, and carried 
low so that it just sweeps the water. As it swims 
along, a never-ending flow of insect-laden water 
enters it, and filtering through the plate-like 
serrations of the sides, leaves a rich deposit of 
food in the duck’s mouth, and clearly the bigger 
the bill the more the water that can be filtered 
