AUSTEALIAN SHOVELER. 
? Spatula variegata North, Rec. Austr. Mus., Vol. II., p. 37, 1892 ; Hall, Key Birds 
Austr., p. 108, 1899. 
Spatula rJiynchotis rhynchotis Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 238, 1912 ; id., List 
Birds Austr., p. 92, 1913. 
Distribution. Queensland ; New South Wales ; Victoria ; Tasmania ; South 
Australia ; South-west Austraha. 
Adult male. Hinder face, sides of nape, and sides of the neck glossy greyish-green; 
chin, fore-head, lores, and crown of head dark brown with chestnut margins 
to the feathers ; a vertical line of white on the fore-part of the cheeks ; back 
dark brown with pale edges to the feathers, some of the scapulars barred and 
lin ed with white ; lesser wing-coverts blue-grey like the outer webs of some of the 
long scapulars ; median-coverts broum broadly tipped with white which forms a 
wing-bar ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quiUs dark brown, the latter with 
white shafts ; outer webs of the outer secondaries dark metallic -green with black 
tips which incloses a wing speculum, the long innermost secondaries glossy 
greenish-brown with pale shaft hnes ; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts 
black glossed with green ; tail dark brown, the outer feathers paler and margined 
with white ; sides of rump white barred and vermiculated with green ; entire under- 
surface dark chestnut barred with black : under tail-coverts black glossed with 
green ; axillaries and under wing-coverts white ; iris bright yellow ; feet bright 
orange, bill black. Total length 540 mm. ; culmen 60, wing 250, tail 83, tarsus 37. 
Adult female. Distinguished by the speckled appearance on the sides of the face, throat, 
and fore-neck, and by the absence of the dark chestnut on the under-surface; 
iris greenish-brown ; feet yeUow ; biU yeUowish-green, with black spots. 
Nest. A shght hollow, lined with down and placed on the ground. 
Eggs. Clutch, four to seven ; ground-colour creamy-white, shghtly glossy ; axis 49-53 mm. ; 
diameter 37-38. 
Breeding-season. “ August to November ” (Campbell). 
Though this bird was described by Latham, little of its life-history is yet 
known. 
Captain S. A. White states : “ The ‘ Shovellers ’ were found in every 
part of the lake (Alexandrina) and passage ; they seem to dive a lot 
for their food. Strange to say, 70 to 80 per cent, of these birds are 
males : they make a very loud and startling noise when they ta^ke to 
the wing, which can be heard a long way off. Their flesh is not equal 
to either Black Duck or Teal. I have proved them to have an 
extraordinary sense of smell. These birds are fairly plentiful at times, 
and in 1889 they visited the Heed-beds in great numbers, and in October 
nested amongst the high clover in my paddocks. The nests were rudely 
formed on the ground and the eggs varied from four to seven in a nest.” 
Mr. J. W. Mellor has written me : “ Commonly known as the ‘ Shoveller,’ 
also as the ‘ Blue Wing.’ They are not plentiful, but at times are seen in 
fair numbers in the swampy localities. I have taken them at the Heed-beds, 
South Australia, and also seen them on Lakes Alexandrina and Albert. 
They have a very fast flight, and one generally knows when ‘ Shovellers ’ 
VOL. IV. 
121 
