SHOVELLER 23 



"Caddis larvae and their cases and dragon-fly nymphs are most numerous among 

 the other insects preyed upon, but there is nothing of special note regarding them, 

 nor were any of them identified. The remaining insects included larvae of midges, 

 soldier-flies, horse-flies, may-flies, a hymenopteron, and a bird louse, of a species 

 (Lipeurus squalidus) known to infest the Shoveller. Not insects but more closely 

 allied to them than to other orders are the water-mites (Hydrachnidae) which were 

 identified from five stomachs. 



"Remains of small fishes composed nearly three per cent of the food of the Shovel- 

 lers examined; in one case six small carp (Cyprinus carpio) had been taken by a 

 single bird. Crustaceans make up the balance of the animal food and although two 

 crawfishes were among them the great bulk was made up of those minute bivalved 

 forms known as Ostracods together with a few of the naked Copepods. In one in- 

 stance hundreds of Ostracods had been consumed as part of one meal. In the case of 

 a Shoveller collected at South Island, S.C., March 31, 1905, a male specimen of a 

 new species of Ilyodromus was identified by Dr. R. W. Sharpe of New York, who 

 stated that the genus had not previously been reported from North America and that 

 no male had ever before been found. The names of the Ostracods identified and 

 the number of stomachs in which found are : 



Candona sigmoides 1 



Cypris pellucida 2 



Candona simpsoni 2 



Cypridopsis vidua 1 



Candona sp. 3 



Cy there sp. 1 



Cypria dentifera 2 



Ilyodromus sp. 1 





Potamocypris smaragdina 1 



"Foraminifera were found in a single stomach from the Mississippi Delta, and 

 oligochaete worms in two. 



"The approximate two thirds of the diet of the Shoveller derived from the vege- 

 table kingdom is drawn from numerous plant families none of which is of really pre- 

 ponderating importance. A fair share of the total, of course, is composed of the 

 macerated plant debris which is so important a constituent of the bottom ooze. 

 Aside from this indeterminate material the leading items are: sedges, 16.02%; 

 pondweeds, 11.25%; grasses, 8.28%; algae, 6.55%; waterlilies, 2.5%; duckweeds, 

 1.7%; and smartweeds, 1.1%. Chiefly the seeds of sedges are eaten, those most in 

 favor being bulrush (Scirpus) and saw-grass (Mariscus). About 200 seeds of the 

 latter plant were found in one stomach. The pondweeds consumed were mostly 

 Potamogeton and widgeon grass (Ruppia) of which more than 150 seeds were counted 

 in single gizzards, but of another genus of this family, the horned pondweed (Zan- 

 nichellia) , more than 1600 seeds were taken by one bird at a meal. The grasses iden- 

 tified in the Shoveller's food were mostly switch-grasses (Panicum), and cultivated 

 rice. However, the seeds of the latter eaten were shattered grain gleaned in the 

 fields in winter, and their consumption is a benefit, since volunteer rice is very ob- 



