AUSTRALIAN SHOVELLER 33 



with Buller's (1S8S) observations. The latter writer found it "far less suspicious than 

 the Common Grey Duck, and easily approached and shot." 



Gait, Swimming, Diving. The posture and carriage of this duck are very similar 

 to those of our own Shoveller. Captain White's remark (in Mathews, 1914-15) 

 that "they dive a lot for their food " on Lake Alexandrina, South Australia, seems to 

 me very remarkable. No other writers mention such habits. 



Flight. All observers agree in describing the flight as rapid. Mellor (in Mathews, 

 1914-15) remarks that he could tell the Shovellers at night, while waiting for a shot 

 at ducks, by the straight swoop and arrow-like rapidity with which they settle on 

 the surface of the water. When they rise, their wings make a loud whirring sound 

 much as in our own Shoveller. North (1913), and Hall say one "Blue-wing" will 

 make as much noise as a score of other ducks. Like the Common Shoveller, this 

 species usually travels in pairs or in small parties (Buller, 1888). 



Association with other Species. There is no information on this point beyond 

 Gould's (1865) old note that he "frequently met with it in company with other 

 common ducks of the country, all united in one flock." 



Voice. No careful description of the voice has been published. Buller's (1888) 

 statement that "when disturbed on the water it produces a low whistling note" is 

 not sufficient to give an adequate idea of its call. 



Food. As with our own Shoveller, exact analysis of stomach contents presents 

 great difficulties, because much of the organic matter taken in is so formless and 

 minute that in the stomach it soon becomes a mass almost impossible to identify. 

 Buller (1888) states that these ducks feed on minute fresh-water mollusks, aquatic 

 insects, tender herbage and the seeds of the toetoe and other plants. On examining 

 stomachs he found "a mass of comminuted substances of a greenish color, among 

 which could be distinguished fragments of vegetable matter, seeds, the remains of 

 insects, and numerous small pebbles of white chalcedony." 



Courtship and Nesting. There are no notes on the display which most pro- 

 bably is the same as in the Common Shoveller. A form of play, perhaps connected 

 with courtship, is mentioned by R. Hall (1909) in which "the males rise very 

 quickly, fifteen to twenty feet directly above where they were swimming and then 

 immediately fall back to their original position." 



The nesting season in eastern Australia extends from August to November or 

 December (North, 1913). The only nest hitherto described from New Zealand was 



