OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 375 



Genus SPATULA, or Shovelers. 



Type, SPATULA CLYPEATA. 



Spatula, of Boie (1822). — The birds in the present genus are characterised 

 by having a spatulate bill, combined with the absence of a soft membrane at the 

 sides of it near the tip, and the presence of blue wing coverts. 



Four species of typical Shoveler are at present known to ornithologists, and 

 a fifth and somewhat aberrant species (confined to Australia and Tasmania) is 

 generically separated under the term Malacorhynchus, remarkable for having 

 the bill furnished with a soft membrane at the sides near the tip. The 

 Shovelers are practically cosmopolitan in their distribution, although but one 

 species is British. 



The Shovelers show a decided preference for fresh water, being especially 

 partial to lakes, pools, and rivers with shallow muddy banks. Their flight is 

 rapid and powerful when once fairly commenced. They walk with the usual 

 waddling gait peculiar to most Ducks, but swim with ease although they never 

 normally dive. They are social but not so gregarious as some other species in 

 the present subfamily. Their notes are harsh, becoming gutteral during flight. 

 They are almost omnivorous in their diet, feeding by night as well as by day. 

 They are monogamous, making their rude nests, ultimately lined with down, 

 upon the ground, and their numerous eggs are huffish or olive-white in colour. 



