18 SPATULA CLYPEATA 



sota, not before April 5, once as early as March 26; Illinois, late March to April 20; Indiana, early to 

 middle of March; western New York, March 15-April 5. In Canada the Shoveller does not arrive 

 before May, appearing at Edmonton, Alberta, on May 1 ; at Fort Chipewyan, May 7; at Fort Resolu- 

 tion on May 18; and at St. Michael's, Alaska, May 11-20. 



In the northeastern States and in eastern Canada the Shoveller scarcely occurs in spring (excep- 

 tional in New Jersey and Quebec) and it is one of the very rarest ducks in autumn throughout the 

 St. Lawrence basin and the Maritime Provinces as well as in New England. It becomes commoner in 

 the Middle Atlantic States. Stray specimens have been taken near Cartwright, southern Labrador, 

 in September (C. W. Townsend and Allen, 1907) and at Romaine, Quebec, in June (II. F. Lewis, 1922). 

 Statistics for autumn migration are not so plentiful but the situation is well summed up by Cooke 

 (1906): "An individual seen at Erie, Pa., September 6, 1893, marks about the beginning of the 

 autumn migration, and soon after this, by the middle of the month, the earliest migrants have reached 

 the mouth of the Mississippi River. The larger portion have departed from the northern United 

 States by the middle of October, and the region just north of the winter range is deserted early in 

 November. South of the United States, at the southern end of Lower California, the first arrivals 

 have been recorded October 18; Guaymas, Mexico, November; Panama, October 16; Cuba, Septem- 

 ber; Jamaica, November; Trinidad, December." 



In Europe and Africa the situation is very similar, though the spring migration seems to begin 

 somewhat earlier and is very extended. Thus in Abyssinia this duck is found as late as the middle 

 of March (von Erlanger, 1905) ; large flocks have been seen west of Fashoda in April (Ogilvie-Grant, 

 1902) and in Fayum it was seen in May (von Heuglin, 1873). But the bulk leave Egypt in March 

 (Nicoll, 1919) and Tunis in February and March. In western Europe they move north early, leaving 

 Corsica in late February or early March (Jourdain, 1912); Italy in March and April (Arrigoni degli 

 Oddi, 1904); Spain in February and March (Arevalo y Baca, 1887), and Portugal in March (Tait, 

 1887). Early arrivals have been noted in Holland and Bohemia in February (Albarda, 1886; Fritsch, 

 1872), but the British Isles, France, Netherlands, Germany and other countries of western and 

 central Europe are usually reached in March or early April. The average date of arrival for Hungary 

 in the years 1895-1911 was March 27 (Aquila, vol. 19, p. 145, 1912). In eastern Europe the move- 

 ment seems to be somewhat later. Shovellers appear in Rumania in the second week in April (Aquila, 

 vol. 15, p. 328, 1908; vol. 16, p. 313, 1909) and on the lower Volga in March (Moeschler, 1853), while 

 farther north arrivals have been noted at Smolensk, April 3-4; at Moscow, middle of April; in the 

 Baltic Provinces, April l;at Pskof , late April; at St. Petersburg, late April; on the Petchora, May 21; 

 and at the mouth of the Petchora on June 19. 



In autumn most of the birds leave the northernmost breeding grounds in September, though some 

 nave been known to stay in the Baltic Provinces until November 1 (Loudon, 1909). In France, Ger- 

 many and central Europe generally the migration takes place in September and October, and most 

 reach the wintering grounds in the Mediterranean countries in those months, though in Spain, Italy, 

 Greece, etc., some arrive much earlier, occasionally in August. 



The situation in Asia is essentially the same. In Transcaspia a great migration was witnessed near 

 Mervfrom March 18 to 25 (Radde and Walter, 1889). The birds disappear from India before the 

 end of April, though some linger till May and in Kashmir till late May (Hume and Marshall, 1879). 

 Some stay in the vicinity of Kohat and Kurram till May 20 (C. H. T. Whitehead, 1909) but in Tibet 

 they have been seen in April (H. J. Walton, 1906). There are mid-May records for Mesopotamia but 

 no evidences of breeding there (Ticehurst, Buxton and Cheesman,1922). For more northern regions 

 the following data are available: Tarei-nor, April 7-18 (Radde, 1863); Dalai-nor, March 30; Kuku- 

 nor, March 14-April; Lake Hanka, early March-April 1 (Prjevalski, 1878); Jenesei River, 66° north 

 latitude, June 18 (Seebohm, 1885); Wiljui River, May 15 (Maak, 1859); Gichiga, middle of May 

 (J. A. Allen, 1905); Kamchatka, May, and Bering Island, early April (Stejneger, 1885; Bianchi, 

 1909a). 



