The Shoveler 
69 
feathers of the lower neck and chest always fall out direct, without undergoing 
any colour-change/ The autumn change of the adult male into winter dress 
is similar to that of other surface-feeding ducks, but the process, as in the 
case of the Garganey, is often protracted, and the bird not in complete plumage 
until December. 
The Plumage of the Female Shoveler 
When first capable of flight, as at the end of July, the young female 
Shoveler somewhat resembles the young Mallard female at a similar age, but 
the bird is easily distinguished by its inferior size and the broadness of the 
bill, which is now rapidly growing. At this age — say two months — the bill 
has not nearly reached its full growth, but with the power of flight the whole 
bird advances rapidly both in form and plumage. In about a fortnight there 
is a distinct colour-change as well as moult taking place in and amongst the 
scapular feathers, and we see the first signs of the winter plumage appearing 
all over the back of the bird. Then, as with all the surface-feeding females, 
the usual complete moult extends over the whole bird as the autumn and 
winter advance, till, by January, a complete new dress has been acquired 
except on the wings. In spring, when the Shovelers come to the breeding 
grounds, these young females, if not in the main flock, soon separate them- 
selves and go off" to lead a life of single blessedness,^ and are easily 
distinguished from the old birds by their dark shoulders and wings. These 
portions of the plumage are moulted in July, primaries falling alternately, and 
the bird being capable of flight during the whole period of the moult. Thus 
the female Shoveler, like the male, does not acquire her full dress until 
October, i.e. at the age of seventeen months. 
Adult female Shovelers in winter dress seem to present a very constant 
1 In all water-fowl white feathers are least inclined to sympathetic change, and, except in the case of the 
Grebes, Terns, and Gulls, it is uncommon. 
2 I (Jo not believe that they breed during their first spring. 
