the naturalists of the Russian expedition- found it on the~
shores "of the Caspian Sea^ Colonel' Sykes iifeluliesàt araong
the Birds of Indiar; and M. Temminck- says -that examples
from Japan exactly agree' "with - the specimens .taken in
Europe. The Shoveler found in thé IIni-ted States,^- in
North America, and a t Hudson’s Bay; and' interesting
accounts will be foundun the works,, ,of Audubon, W,$spn>
Nuttall, and Dr.. Richardson.
In thé adult male-the beak is leaf! colour, dilated opâ'eacb
side towards the tip ; the irictér yellojw:3 the- whole of the
head and the upper part of the; n#.c3% green ; lower part of
the neck*, the inter-scapulars, scapulars, and .some^ef ; the
tertials white ;; middle p f the back .dark bfown, the feather’s
having' lighten-coloured margins ; -the point 4ft-the?wingji®?:
lesser wing-coverts, and outer web' oCSeine of the
pale blue greater wing-coverts white ; .primaries dark brown*
almost black the secondaries the samre^ bust^hl spéculum
green-; rump, -upper tail-coverts, and tail-feathers, plmq^t-.
black ; breast, and all the belly rich chestnut brown ; thighs
freckled with dark brown, on a ground- of lightérÿàalebrown».;
the vent .white; Under^tail-covérts-rblack ; legs,1^t&é4 and
their membranes,' reddish-orange'; the nails black.
The whole length about twenty inches. From the carpal
joint to the end of the wing ten inches ; the second quilh
feather the longest.
Adult males in summer change the green colour of the
head and neck to brpwn, spotted with very dark • brown ;
back and scapulars -dusky?- breast afid - belly.. ferruginous,
spotted with black ; legs-orange.
Females have the head and neck mottled with two shades
'p f brown ; the feathers on the upper surface of the body
darker brown in the centre, with light brown edges and-tips ;
under surface of thé body pale brown.
Young males at first resemble females, changing by slow
degrees fe the> true distinctive- plumage of the sex, but do
not-attain it till after the“ old males have completed their
change under the 'influ epc&iof the autumn moult.
> The- tube of the trachea iti the Shoveler male is about
g;eWenfkh?GheS' long, and nearly uniform in size throughout its
length,., with a small hollow- bony protuberance on the left
&de» ^ om whichfiiifriWill be observed by the figure below
that 'one* bronchial »tube goes off to the lobe of the lungs
■I jy Jlid other bronchial tube1 comes off from
the right inferior portion of the bone'of divarication at the
bottom ^M fetr^hea:
,>-!»The Second figure-below-represents the lower part of the
trachtSy and tie bronchial tubes in the female Shoveler, in
which, as in dll the other-females of'the Anatidse, there is
no bony enlargement-. \