SHOVELLER. 
185 
JJ® Upper part of the neck only is black but in full 
Wutnapfed birds of both sexes, the markings are very 
'“'leb alike. 
The brant is often seen in our markets for sale. Its 
®^h, though esteemed by many, tastes somewhat sedgy, 
fisihy. 
SUBGENUS II . — ANASy BREHJI. 
CLTFEATAf LINNiEUS AND WILSON. — SHOVELLER. 
"'’•Sox, PLATE LXVII. FIG. VII EDINBUttGH COLLEGE MUSEU5I. 
f We except the singularly formed and di.spropor- 
?*">ate size of the bill, there are few diudis more 
j "'‘tiful or more elegantly marked than this. The 
'■''cellence of its flesh, which is uniformly juicy, tender, 
i U ell tasted, is another recommendation to which it 
l'* ®1uallv entitled. It occasionally visits the sea coast, 
i'’*' >s more commonly found on our lakes and rivers, 
™ticularly along their muddy shores, where it spends 
n'"*t part of its time in searching for small worms, and 
a" larvie of insecks, sifting the watery mud through 
long and finely set teeth of its curious hill, which 
L ""Imirahly constructed for the purpose, being large, 
. tceeive a considerable <|uantity of matter, each 
^ ^'’'lible bordered with close-set, pectinated rows, 
^'l^’ly resembling those of a A\'eaver’s reed, which. 
Into each other, form a kind of sieve, capable of 
^ '"Uiing very minute worms, seeds, or insects, which 
?^litute the princi|)al food of the bird. 
Ij Tlie shoveller visits us only in the winter, and is not 
ij”®"’n to breed in any part of the United States. It 
h.lnommon bird of Europe, aud, according to M. 
(l^'llon, the correspondent of Button, breeds yearly in 
H ® *nar.shes in France. The female is said to malre her 
^^1 on the ground, with withered grass, in the midst 
Ihe largest tufts of rushes or coarse herbage, in the 
The figui-e of this bird, given by Bewick, is in that state. 
