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SHOVELER , formerly spelt SHOVELAR, and more anciently SHOVELARD, a word by which used to be meant the See also:bird now almost invariably called See also:Spoonbill (q.v.), but in the latter See also:half of the 16th See also:century transferred to one hitherto generally, and in these days locally, known as the See also:Spoon-billed See also:Duck—the Anas clypeata of See also:Linnaeus and Rhynchaspis or Spatula clypeata of See also:modern writers. All these names refer to the shape of the bird's See also:bill, which, combined with the remarkably See also:long lamellae that beset both maxilla and mandible, has been thought sufficient to remove the See also:species from the Linnaean genus Anas. Except for the extraordinary formation of this feature, which carries with it a clumsy look, the male Shoveler would pass for one of the most beautiful of this generally beautiful See also:group of birds. As it is, for See also:bright and variegated colouring, there are few of his kindred to whom he is inferior. His See also:golden See also:eye, his dark See also:green See also:head, surmounting a See also:breast of pure See also:- WHITE
- WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
- WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
- WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
- WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
- WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
- WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
- WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
- WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
- WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
- WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
- WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
- WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
- WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)
white and succeeded by underparts and flanks of See also:rich See also:bay, are conspicuous; while his deep See also:- BROWN
- BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-181o)
- BROWN, FORD MADOX (1821-1893)
- BROWN, FRANCIS (1849- )
- BROWN, GEORGE (1818-188o)
- BROWN, HENRY KIRKE (1814-1886)
- BROWN, JACOB (1775–1828)
- BROWN, JOHN (1715–1766)
- BROWN, JOHN (1722-1787)
- BROWN, JOHN (1735–1788)
- BROWN, JOHN (1784–1858)
- BROWN, JOHN (1800-1859)
- BROWN, JOHN (1810—1882)
- BROWN, JOHN GEORGE (1831— )
- BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858)
- BROWN, SAMUEL MORISON (1817—1856)
- BROWN, SIR GEORGE (1790-1865)
- BROWN, SIR JOHN (1816-1896)
- BROWN, SIR WILLIAM, BART
- BROWN, THOMAS (1663-1704)
- BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820)
- BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897)
- BROWN, WILLIAM LAURENCE (1755–1830)
brown back, white scapulas, lesser wing-coverts (often miscalled shoulders) of a See also:glaucous See also:blue, and glossy green See also:speculum bordered with white See also:present a wonderful contrast of the richest tints, heightened again by his bright See also:orange feet. On the other See also:hand, the See also:female, excepting the blue wing-coverts she has in See also:common with her See also:mate, is habited very like the See also:ordinary See also:Wild-Duck, A. boscas. The Shoveler is not an abundant species, and in See also:Great See also:Britain its See also:distribution is See also:local; but its See also:numbers have remarkably increased since the passing of the Wild-See also:Fowl See also:Protection See also:Act in 1876, so that in certain districts it has regained its old position as an indigenous member of the See also:Fauna. It has not ordinarily a very high See also:northern range, but inhabits the greater See also:part of See also:Europe, See also:Asia and See also:America, passing southwards, like most of the Anatidae towards See also:winter, constantly reaching See also:India, See also:Ceylon, See also:Abyssinia, the See also:Antilles and Central America, while it is known to have occurred at that See also:season in See also:Colombia, and, according to See also:Gould, in See also:Australia. Generally resembling in its habits the other See also:freshwater ducks, the Shoveler has one peculiarity that has been rarely, if ever, mentioned, and one that is perhaps correlated with the structure of its bill. It seems to be especially given to feeding on the See also:surface of the See also:water immediately above the spot where diving ducks (Fuligulinae) are employing themselves beneath. On such occasions a pair of Shovelers may be watched, almost for the See also:hour together, See also:swimming in a circle, about a yard in See also:diameter, their heads turned inwards towards its centre, their bills immersed vertically in the water, and engaged in sifting, by means of the long lamellae before mentioned, the floating matters that are disturbed by
their submerged See also:allies and rise to the See also:top. These gyrations are executed with the greatest ease, each Shoveler of the pair merely using the See also:outer See also:leg to impel it on its circular course.
Four other species of the genus Spatula, all possessing the characteristic See also:light blue "shoulders," have been described: one, S. platalea, from the See also:southern parts of See also:South America, having the head, See also:neck and upper back of a See also:pale reddish brown, freckled or closely spotted with dark brown, and a dull bay breast with interrupted bars; a second, S. capensis, from South See also:Africa, much lighter in See also:colour than the female of S. clypeata; a third and a See also:fourth, S. rhynchotis and S. variegata, from Australia and New See also:Zealand respectively—these last much darker in See also:general coloration, and the See also:males possessing a white crescentic See also:mark between the bill and the eye, very like that which is found in the South-See also:American Blue-winged See also:Teal (Querquedula cyanoptera), but so much resembling each other that their specific distinctness has been disputed by See also:good authority. (A.
End of Article: SHOVELER
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