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A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



chin, throat and fore-neck dull black slightly glossed green ; centre 

 of mantle dark sepia or black-brown, feathers edged and a few 

 freckled white ; sides of upper-mantle white ; short scapulars 

 white, some tipped or freckled dusky and with inner webs and tips 



Bill of the Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) from the side and from above. 



black-brown or intermixed with black feathers, two long scapulars on 

 either side pale blue, one with white stripe on inner web along shaft 

 and bordered dull green, remainder dull green, some with olive - 

 brown or creamy-brown shaft-streaks ; back, rump and upper tail- 

 coverts black-brown glossed metallic -green, sides of rump white ; 

 long upper tail-coverts sepia edged creamy ; upper-breast white 

 {some eclipse feathers often retained with subterminal semi-circular 

 bands) ; sides of body and flanks pink-cinnamon with numerous 

 fine wavy bars of black ; centre of breast, belly and vent bay, when 

 fresh feathers narrowly edged white (sometimes barred or spotted 

 blackish), and those of lower-belly and vent in some more or less 

 barred dusky ; under tail-coverts black glossed dull green, short 

 ones with bases white and more or less vermiculated black, long ones 

 with buff bars and f recklings towards tip ; axillaries and under wing- 

 co verts white ; central pair of tail-feathers sepia tinged olive and 

 edged or mottled white, others with outer webs sepia, inner webs 

 white or bumsh-white freckled dusky, outer ones mostly white with 

 brown shafts ; primaries sepia paler on inner webs ; secondaries 

 sepia (sometimes faintly tipped white on outer webs), all save two 

 outer ones metallic -green on outer webs, innermost with outer webs 

 blackish blue-green or dark green, inner webs olive-brown and with 

 narrow white shaft-streaks towards tip ; bastard- wing sepia ; 

 primary- coverts sepia but the median and lesser ones tinged blue ; 

 greater coverts sepia with broad white tips (sometimes with dusky 

 spot at tip of inner web) inner ones olive-brown, tips shaded blue or 

 green ; median and lesser coverts pale blue, sepia at base. This 

 plumage is acquired by a moult of body-feathers, central pair of 

 tail-feathers and innermost secondaries Aug. to Dec. 



