THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
enter the pool at night, when waiting for a shot at ducks, by the straight 
swoop and arrow-like rapidity with which they settle on the surface of the 
water. They choose a secluded spot for their nest among the thick grass 
and bushes adjacent to the swamps. Their food is obtained chiefly about 
the water and consists of seeds and aquatic growth found in these localities, 
the water being sifted through their shovel-like bills, and anything desirable 
retained and eaten. They are often sent into the Adelaide market for 
eating purposes.” 
Mr. Tom Carter’s notes are: “ The Shoveller is a rare species. The only 
specimen noted by me in the Mid-west I shot sixty miles inland 
from Point Cloates, Oct. 30, 1900. One was shot the same year on 
the Minilya River. I was told of one being shot at Lake Muir.” 
Berney {Eynu, Vol. VI., p. 157, 1907) records : “ Very seldom seen in the 
Richmond district (S. Queensland) ; there were a few about in January 
1900, and I saw a single bird in January 1902.” 
Hall, writing about the birds of the Murray River district {EmUy 
Vol. IX., p. 77, 1909) writes: “ This is the most local of the Ducks, and may 
be found when nearly all the other species have gone north or have 
distributed themselves. Their young are later abroad. To a limited extent 
only they nest in this district. When feeding one may distinctly hear them 
sieving in the mud. As with every other animal, they place their confidence 
in man until once shot at with a heavy gun. It is then difiicult to approach 
near to a flock. It is a very quick flier. A flock will be asleep, and, if 
alarmed, the whole body will be 20 feet high in the air in the next instant. 
One ‘ Bluewing ’ will make as much noise as a whole flock of any other 
Duck. There is a hum in the wing as it rises. The males have a form of 
play by rising 15 to 20 feet directly above where they were swimming and 
very quickly. They immediately fall back to their swimming position.” 
Stone, on the Birds of Lake Boga, Victoria {Emu, Vol. XII., p. 121, 1912) 
says : “ Very common. I think these Ducks are the most suspicious of the 
presence of possible danger. Maximum, twelve eggs.” 
North recorded a specimen of the New Zealand Shoveler as having 
been procured in Australia, but as I consider the New Zealand bird only 
subspecificaUy distinct, I conclude that North’s specimen was simply an 
aberration of the Australian form and do not include the New Zealand bird 
in the Australian List. 
Of the birds figured and described, the male was collected at Narandra, 
New South Wales, in May, 1892, and the female at Lake Alexandra, South 
Australia, on the 26th February, 1912, by Capt. S. A. White. 
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