BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA 
39 
Genus SPATULA Boie 
S patula clypeata (Linn.). 
Shoveller; Spoonbill. 
Description. 
Bill much longer than head, spoon-shaped, being twice as wide toward the end as 
at base. In any plumage may be distinguished from other species by its odd 
spoon-like bill. 
Male . — Bill (dried skin) black; tarsi brownish-yellow ; iris reddish-yellow ; head 
and upper neck all round dark glossy green ; top of head in specimen before me is 
glossy black with purplish reflection ; lower part of neck and fore breast and patches 
at base of tail on each side, also most of lining of wings white ; wing coverts and 
some of the scapulars on outer webs blue ; scapulars also conspicuously striped with 
black and white, fore back brownish-black mixed with white, and many of feathers 
edged with grayish ; lower part of back black. 
Female . — With wing similar, but blue of wing and coverts less distinct ; head and 
neck brownish-yellow spotted with dusky ; the belly with a decided chestnut 
tinge.” Length about 21 inches ; extent about 32 inches. 
Habitat . — Northern hemisphere. In North America, breeding from Alaska to 
Texas ; not abundant on Atlantic coast. 
The Shoveller is a rare and rather irregular spring and fall migrant 
in all sections of the state. When found here this species is usually 
seen singly, or in pairs, and occasionally, though very seldom, small 
flocks are found. The Shoveller does not breed in Pennsylvania. 
Genus DAFILA Stephens. 
Dafila acuta (Linn.). 
Pintail ; Sprig-tail. 
Description. 
Bill a little longer than head and rather narrow ; neck long ; tail of male long and 
pointed. 
Male in Spring . — Bill black-bluish on sides ; tarsi brownish lead color with 
greenish tinge ; webs black ; head, and about half of neck above dark -brown, glossed 
with green ; black stripe on back of neck, on either side of which is a long white 
stripe, connecting with white of lower half of neck and breast and abdomen ; back 
and sides grayish with fine transverse lines of black and white ; lesser wing coverts 
gray ; speculum greenish-purple, with a buff border in front and a black and white 
border posteriority ; crissum and long central tail feathers black, other tail feathers 
light-gray ; scapulars and long tertiaries striped longitudinally with black and 
silver-gray. Length (depends on development of tail, which is usually 5 or 6 inches 
long) about 28 inches ; extent about 35 inches. 
“ Female . — With only a trace of the markings of the wing ; the green of speculum 
brownish with few green spots ; feathers of back are brown with a broad U or 
V-shaped brownish-yellow bar on each feather anteriority ; sometimes these bars in 
the shape of broad transverse lines.” — Baird’’ s B. of N. A. 
Habitat . — Northern hemisphere. In North America breeds from the northern 
parts of the United States northward, and migrates south to Panama and Cuba. 
The Pintail Duck is a reg-ular spring- and fall migrant, but rare winter 
