SHOVELLER. 



spoonbill. broadbill, 



Spatula clypeata. 



Char. Back brown, the feathers paler on the edges; shoulders blue; 

 wing-coverts white; secondaries brown with a green patch; primaries 

 black; rump and tail black; head and neck green; lower neck and 

 breast white ; belly rich chestnut; vent white; under tail-coverts black; 

 bill widened at the end and of dark leaden blue; legs reddish. Female 

 darker and duller; head and neck mottled with two shades of brown; 

 under parts pale brown or buff. Length 20 inches. 



A^est. On marshy margins of a lake or stream ; made of grass lined 

 with down, which the female plucks from her body after she begins 

 to sit. 



E!;gs. 6-14; pale greenish buff, sometimes tinged with blue; 2.05 X 

 1,45. 



The Shoveller, remarkable by the broadness of its bill, is an 

 inhabitant of the northern parts of both continents ; according 

 to Richardson it frequents chiefly the clear lakes of the hy- 

 perboreal districts, selecting for a breeding-place the Barren 

 Grounds, where it remains to pass the summer, appearing in 

 numbers in the more southern and woody country only in the 

 spring and autumn when migrating. Early in October these 



