ii6 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



Duck, and flies promptly at the approacli of danger ; is an exceptionally good diver 

 (the italics are mine) and rapid swimmer. It wanders a long distance from the 

 water for nuts, acorns, etc. In the cloudy, windy days of November, they retire 

 from this latitude generally during the last week in October." 



Lord Lilford, who had very considerable experience of this Duck in the 

 Mediterranean, . speaks of it as common in Epirus, in winter, and in cold weather, 

 in Sardinia, Sicily, and Tunis, most of those obtained were got by flight shooting. 

 Lord Lilford says : — " I noticed a peculiarity in the habit of this species at the 

 sunset flight :— whilst the Mallards would circle cautiously several times around 

 their feeding-place before settling ; the Teal came dashing in over the tops of the 

 reeds; and the Shovelers drop in quickly, in small parties; the Gadwalls came 

 straight over us at a considerable height, and, without any preliminary circum- 

 volution, always turned suddenly and came pouring in from the direction opposite 

 to that of their first approach." 



Family— ANA TIDAL. 



Shoveler. 



Spatula clypeata, LlN^T. 



THE Shoveler, although not nearly so common as the Mallard, has a more 

 extended distribution even than that species. In fact the range covered by 

 it in its summer and winter quarters greatly exceeds that of any other Duck, so 

 that for all practical purposes it may be called cosmopolitan. 



Its breeding range extends over the British Isles, Denmark, northern Germany, 

 and southern Sweden, across Russia ; through Asia, but not as a rule north of the 

 Forest Belt, to Kamtchatka, Japan, and China, numbers wintering in the two 

 latter countries. It nests in central Asia, and occurs on migration at Gilgit, 



