218 AXATID.E. 



bill, which widens out towards the tip, so that it is twice as broad at the apex 

 as at the base ; they also have the upper wing-coverts of a clear greyish-blue colour. 



Four species of Spatula are known, three of which belong to the southern 

 areas of the globe — <S. rhynclwtis inhabiting Australia and New Zealand, S. platalea 

 South America, and S. capensis South Africa. The common Shoveler {8. clypeata) is 

 found in the Palgearctic and Nearctic Regions, and extends its range in winter to 

 Central America. 



I. Spatula clypeata. 



Anas cfypeata, Linn. Syst. isat. i. p. 200' ; Wagl. Isis, 1831, p. 532"; Licht. Preis-Verz. Mex. 



Yog. p. iii (1830) ' ; Cab. J. f. Orn. 1863, p. 59 ^ 

 Spatula clypeata, Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 231 ' ; P. Z. S. 1876, p. 396 ^ Scl. P. Z. S. 1862, 



p. 20'; V. Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 378"; Lawr. ]Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 314'; 



Baird, Brewer, & Ridgw. Water-Birds N. Amer. i. p. 526 " ; Herrera, La Nat. (2) i. 



pp. 187 ", 329 " ; Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. N. H. v. p. 33 " ; A. O. U. Check-1. X. Amer. Birds, 



2nd ed. p. 51 "; Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 306''. 

 Rhynchaspis clypeata, Duges, La Nat. i. p. 143 '^ 



Supra saturate brunnea ; uropygio et supracaudalibus nigris viridi nitentibus ; interscapulii lateribus et 

 scapularibus brevioribus albis, his longioribus nigris viridi lavatis et medialiter albis, esterne palHde 

 grisesceuti-cyaneis ; tectricibus alarum quoque grisescenti-eyaneis, majoribus nigricantibus, in dimidio 

 apicali albis, fasciam alarem latam formantibus, tectricibus primariorum et remigibus saturate brunneisj 

 secundariis extus saturate viridibus, speculum alarem exhibentibus ; secundariis intimis nigris viridi 

 nitentibus ; capite et collo superiore saturate uitenti-viridibus ; pileo, gula et prffipectore nigricantibus ; 

 collo imo et pectore summo albis ; pectore reliquo et abdomiue castancis ; corporis lateribus, bypo- 

 chondriis et crisso fere cinnamomeis, nigro transversim Uneatis ; crissi lateribus conspicue albis ; 

 subcaudalibus nigris, viridi nitentibus ; subalaribus et axiUaribus albis ; rectricibus medianis brunneis, 

 reliquis albis brunneo medialiter marmoratis : rostro plumbeo ; pcdibus rufesceuti-aurantiacis ; iride 

 flava. Long, fcota circa 20-0, alae 10-0, caudae 3' 7, culm. 2-75, tarsi 1-4. (Descr. maris adulti ex 

 Brownsville, Texas. Mus. nostr.) 



cJ in ptilosi vera cestiva feminas adultse similis, sed tectricibus alarum griseo-cyanois, uropygio et 

 supracaudalibus nigris distingucnda. 



5 . Supra brunnea, plumis singulis fulvo fasciatis et marginatis ; pileo nigricante areuario, fulvo striolato ; 

 capitis lateribus et collo paUide fulvis, nigro crebre striolatis et punclatis; gutture immaoulato ; 

 praspectoi-e et pectore summo, corporis lateribus et hypocbondriis fulvis, nigro circulariter notatis ; eorpore 

 reliquo subtns rufescenti- fulvo, plumis medialiter celatim nigris ; subcaudalibus albicantibus, ni»ro 

 maculatis ; alis ut in mari coloratis, sed sordidioribus, tectricibus alarum cyanescentibus brunneo 

 adumbratis et angustissime fulvo marginatis ; scapularibus externe brunneis : rostro olivascenti- 

 brunneo, maxillee basi et mandibula tota aurantiacis ; pedibus sordide aurantiacis ; iride corylina. 

 Long, tota circa 18-5, alae 88, caudae 3-7, culm. 23, tarsi 1-25. (Descr. feminse adultsa ex Dueiias. ilus. 

 nostr.) 



cf juv. feminae adultaj similis, sed alis laetius picturatis : rostro pallide rufescenti-brunneo ; pedibus 

 carneis. ' 



Hah. NoETH America, breeding from Alaska to Texas, not abundant on the Atlantic 

 coast north of the Carolinas i*. — Mexico^ {Wagler-, Beppe & Schiede^^), 

 San Diego, Sonora {Robinette^^), Guaymas [Palmer^), Mazatlan {Grayson^), 

 Presidio {Forrer i^), Zacatecas [Bichardson ^% Guanajuato, Guadalajara {Duges ^^), 



