334 
The Shoveller 
ward several inches, when only the rear end of the body will remain in 
sight, the tail pointing directly upward. While thus engaged a flock of 
Spoonbills presents a most ludicrous appearance. 
Where suitable vegetable food is to be found, the Shoveller does 
not pass it by. In many favorite haunts there grows a little tuber known 
as the wild potato, which is about the size of an onion “set.” Cut it 
open and the substance within the rind will be seen to resemble closely 
that of a potato. All river and pond Ducks are very fond of this wild 
food, and if any Shovellers are about they are pretty 
Food sure to get their share. They are usually silent 
birds while feeding, but on their breeding-grounds 
may frequently be heard talking among themselves, their one favorite 
word being took, many times repeated. 
Shovellers feed mostly at night, especially in places where they are 
much pursued by gunners. I have often seen dozens of flocks come from 
the marshes at sunrise and fly out to the open water, far from any place 
where a gunner might hide. There, if the weather is fair and not too 
windy, they will often remain until the shades of night and the pangs 
of hunger again call them back to the tempting marshes. They do not 
gather in enormous flocks, like some other Ducks. I have never seen 
over forty in one company, and very often they pass by in twos and 
threes. In hunting them, the fowler usually conceals himself in' a 
bunch of tall grass or rushes, on or near the margin of an open pond; 
and after anchoring, near by, twenty or thirty wooden duck-dummies 
called decoys, sits down to wait the coming of the birds. Sometimes 
the Ducks fly by at a distance of several hundred yards. It is then that 
the hunter begins to lure them by means of his artiflcial duck-call. 
“Quack-quack, quack-quack,” comes his invitation from the rushes. The 
passing birds, unless too intent on their journey to heed the cry, see 
what they suppose to be a company of Mallards and other Ducks, evi- 
dently profiting by a good feeding-place, and, turning, 
come flying in to settle among the decoys. It is 
just at this moment, with headway checked and 
dangling feet, that they present an easy mark for the concealed gunner. 
Audubon declared the flesh of the Shoveller to be as good for the 
table as that of a Canvasback, and other writers have made similar 
statements. While visiting the Delta Duck Club, near the mouth of the 
Mississippi River in the autumn of 1915, I found that the members of 
the Club did not rate the Shoveller particularly high as a game-bird ; 
and the President of the Club told me that he usually let them go by 
without firing at them. In other hunting regions, where I have visited 
and talked with gunners, I found that Shovellers were regarded about 
as highly as Teals, and were usually shot whenever an opportunity 
offered. 
The bird’s body is really not greatly larger than that of the Teal, 
although its appearance seems to indicate a decidedly heavier bird. 
Calling to 
Decoys 
