294 SHOVELLER DUCK. 



of May. There, in early spring, they resort chiefly to ponds, where they 

 feed on grasses and their seeds, as well as at times a small kind of onion, the 

 bulbs of which they pull up from the moist grounds on their margins. This 

 may perhaps to some seem strange, but I have long since made up my mind 

 to learn from Nature, and believe what is, rather than what philosophers 

 imagine ought to be. Having fed through the night, they collect towards 

 dawn into large bands, and betake themselves to the margins of sand-bars on 

 the Mississippi, where they spend the greater part of the day. At other 

 times I have found them swimming or wading along the muddy margins of 

 ponds and streams, immersing the head and part of the neck while alternate- 

 ly moving the bill to either side, in the manner of the Roseate Spoonbill, 

 sifting as it were the contents of the soft mud or water, and ejecting the sub- 

 stances unfit for food. Repeated inspection of the stomach has shewn me 

 that the Shoveller is not more nice as to the quality of its food than the 

 Mallard or any other of the Duck tribe, for I have found in it leeches, small 

 fishes, large ground-worms, and snails. They never however, I believe, feed 

 by semi-immersion, like the Mallards and Teals; nor do they dive unless 

 hard pressed, or when in a sportive mood, when they will dash for a moment 

 beneath the surface. 



This species is generally considered scarce in the United States, and I 

 believe it is so, for, although many pass northward and breed in the Fur 

 Countries, a greater number spend the summer months in Texas and the dis- 

 tricts farther westward. It is however abundant on the streams of the Rocky 

 Mountains, as well as on the tributaries of the Columbia river, where it was 

 frequently observed by Mr. Townsend, during summer. 



We have no Ducks in the United States whose plumage is more change- 

 able than that of the male of this beautiful species. While the female is 

 sitting on her eggs, he undergoes a moult, after which he appears mottled, 

 and seems as if inclined to assume the garb of his partner. From this pe- 

 riod, the beginning of July, until late in November, very few finely-coloured 

 males are to be seen, and only such as have not mated that season, in which 

 case they do not moult until the beginning of winter, as if to be the sooner 

 ready to associate with females on the approach of the next breeding season. 



In the Carolinas, this species, though found during winter in the rice fields, 

 is not abundant; more than three or four being seldom seen together. In our 

 Central and Eastern Districts, they are rather rare, and a male in full dress is 

 not to be obtained without difficult}', although I have seen some in the mar- 

 kets of New York and Philadelphia. 



The Shoveller walks prettily, and I have often admired its movements in 

 the puddles formed by heavy dashes of rain in our southern corn-fields, 

 where I have found it in company with the Wood Duck, the Mallard, and 



