The Shoveler 
63 
it, and the amiability with which it is accepted by the united drakes. As a 
rule, where the sexes are equal in a breeding haunt the male and female pair 
and keep together in the usual way ; but where there is a preponderance of 
males it is quite common to see a female with two males constantly in 
attendance, and these two husbands will remain with her, apparently in 
complete amity, until she has commenced to sit. The custom is, of course, 
quite common in the case of Mallard, but with them there is a certain 
amount of jealousy on the part of the males, either of whom will drive off 
and, if possible, keep away altogether, his marital partner. Somewhat 
remarkable, too, is the fact that after two adult Shovelers have paired, the 
additional male is generally a bird of the previous year whose plumage is 
only partially complete. Possibly this may be due to the misfortune of the 
young Lothario, who, finding that most of the young females of the previous 
year have gone off by themselves and will not pair, must content himself 
with such favour as he may find with an older and already mated bird. 
Certainly, on Loch Spynie, in the month of May, I have seen quite as many 
trios as pairs of Shovelers, and in nearly every case the third bird was in 
immature plumage. 
At this season Shovelers spend more time in the air than any other 
duck. They may be seen on the wing at all hours, beating up and down 
over the marsh, the two males sometimes indulging in a long aerial love- 
chase, and displaying all their skill in turning and diving through space. The 
female Shoveler makes a deep nest of fine grass, and will place it in grassy 
open land near the water, but not in rank vegetation. As a rule it is very 
well hidden, and, the parent bird sitting close, it is difficult to find. She 
usually lays from eight to fifteen eggs of a greenish buff hue. While in 
down the young birds show but little indication of the future broad bill, but 
that part of the head is long and narrow, and certainly more palmated at the 
end than in the young of Mallard or Gadwall, which they closely resemble. 
With the influx of feathers, however, the bill commences to splay outwards at 
