272 
On the wing it is more active than the Grey Duck, but its flight is more irregular. The white 
thigh-spot in the male is very conspicuous when the bird is swimming. 
It is by no means a common species in any part of New Zealand, while in the extreme northern 
portions of the North Island, so far as I am aware, it has never yet been met with. Up to the time 
of the recent volcanic eruption, it was comparatively plentiful at Rotomahana and at Waihi, but not 
in other parts of the Lake district, and I have never heard of more than one pair being seen at 
Rotorua. It is often met with on the Waikato river. 
Mr. Cheeseman writes to me from Auckland — “ Rare with us. I have heard of it on the lakes 
near the Kaipara heads ; Mr. Hobbs has sent me a specimen shot on the Whangamarino creek, near 
Mercer, and it is occasionally seen on Lakes Whangape and Waikare. ’ 
It frequents the shallow lagoons near the sea-coast, and the quiet bush-creeks overshadowed by 
trees, usually associating in pairs, but sometimes forming parties of three or more. It flies with 
rapidity, and often at a considerable elevation, descending to the ground or water in a slanting 
manner, and with the wings bent in the form of a bow. When disturbed on the water it produces a 
low whistling note ; but it is far less suspicious than the common Grey Duck, and is easily approached 
and shot. It subsists on minute freshwater mollusks, aquatic insects, tender herbage, and the seeds 
of the toetoe and other plants ; on opening the stomachs of several I have found a mass of commi- 
nuted substances of a greenish colour, among which could be distinguished fragments of vegetable 
matter, seeds, the remains of insects, and numerous small pebbles of white chalcedony. It no doubt 
extracts much organic matter from the slimy mud and sand in the places it is accustomed to frequent, 
inasmuch as nature has furnished it with a very remarkable spoon-shaped bill, from which it derives 
its popular name. The surface of the upper mandible is smooth, but slightly furrowed from the 
nostrils outwardly, and in its anterior portion is marked with numerous punctures ; its nail is almond- 
shaped, and forms a strong overhanging lip with a hard cutting-edge ; in the lower mandible there is 
a corresponding development, resembling in shape the human finger-nail, which fits into the upper 
process, forming, so to speak, a strong terminal beak; the lamcllee are highly developed in both 
mandibles, presenting a comb-like appearance ; and in addition to this the lower mandible has a 
rasped outer edge. The tongue is large, fleshy, and of a very peculiar shape ; it is fringed along 
its upper edges with a series of stiff, closely set bristles ; towards the extremity it is deeply concave, 
and is furnished anteriorly and on each side with a horny semitransparent membrane. In the 
female the bill is appreciably smaller than in the male, and the spoon-like expansion is not so highly 
developed. 
Mr. Donald Potts found a nest of this species near the Rangitata river, and he has furnished the 
following account of it ; — “ It was placed, not in a swamp, or even near water, but on the side of one 
of the low downs in Craig Phillips, sheltered by a couple of tufts of tussock, and a plant of Spaniard 
grass [Acifhylla ) ; it was made of fine grass, in which was a fair amount of down, but not so much as 
is usually seen in the nest of the Grey Duck ; it was deep and rather narrow across the top (about 
7 inches) ; the eggs were ten in number, ovoido-conical in form, very smooth and fine in texture, 
creamy white, with a slight greenish tint, and measuring in length 2 inches I-^ line, with a breadth of 
1 inch lines.” This nest was found on November 7 ; but as some of the eggs which it contained 
were hatched out, under a hen, on November 18, it is inferred that the Shoveller commenced her 
nest about the first week of October. The young bird so hatched greatly resembled those of the 
Grey Duck [Anas superciliosa) in colour, but could be readily distinguished by the peculiar form of 
the bill *. 
The number of eggs is no doubt variable; for I have a note of the occurrence of a nest at Kaia- 
poi (Canterbury) containing no less than thirteen. 
* Trans. N.-Z. Inst. 1870, -vol. iii. p. 103. 
