the scowling expression of its eyes, and above all its wonderful bill of which enough has been already said. In 1860 two living examples were brought to England by Mr. Petherick, and exhibited

in the Zoological Gardens. He also discovered its mode of nidification, and obtained its eggs, which are white like those of Storks;1 but the fullest account of the bird is that given by Von Heuglin (Orn. Nordost-Afrika's, pp. 1095-1099).

1 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, pp. 196-199; and Egypt, the Soudan, &c. pp. 365, 475-478 (London: 1861).

SHOOI, a name in Shetland (Edmondston, Zetland Islands, ii. p. 281) for the Arctic Gull (SKUA).

SHORT BILL, the inexpressive name given by Swainson in 1820 (Zool. Illustr. pl. 31) to a curious bird, first described by Vieillot (Analyse, p. 68) as Phibalura1 flavirostris, one of the Cotingidæ

(CHATTERER), but easily recognized by its long, forked tail. Its coloration, though somewhat resembling that of Ampelion, is peculiar, the olive-green feathers of the upper parts being tipped with bright yellow, following a subterminal black bar, while those of the throat and breast are white with a similar black bar and no yellow tip: the crown of the head is crimson, more or less concealed by a thick growth of dark feathers. There is only one species of the genus which inhabits open spaces in the forests of South-eastern Brazil; but until the

PHIBALURA. (After Swainson.)

appearance of Dr. Göldi's notes (Ibis, 1894, pp. 484-490) next to nothing was known of its habits, and what he tells us leaves much to be desired. He found that the bird devours enormous quantities of certain berries having a viscous pericarp, and he obtained a nest with two eggs on which the parent was sitting. These were of a clear greenish-blue with an irregular crown of neutrally-tinted spots at the larger end, but the illustration representing the nest, eggs and young is disappointing. The nest is almost concealed by the sawnoff branches of the tree in which it was built, the eggs from the small scale shew no characters, and the young are nearly as insignificant.2

SHOVELER, formerly spelt SHOVELAR, and more anciently

1 Some writers object to this word as senseless, so that in 1827 Gloger (Notizen a. d. Geb. d. Natur, xvi. p. 278) proposed Chelidis instead, and Prof. Cabanis (Arch. f. Naturgesch. 1847, i. p. 233), thinking that too much like Chelidon, suggested Amphibolura as an amendment, unaware that the last had been preoccupied by Wagler in Herpetology; but no change seems needed, for píßalos (gracilis, exilis), though not commonly given in lexicons, is to be found in that of Constantine (1592), and combined with oupà is appropriate enoughthis being the very etymology Vicillet gave (N. Dict. d'hist. nat. xxiv. p. 107).

2 Many years ago Mr. A. G. More drew my attention to a figure in the Dublin Penny Journal (i. p. 253) for 2 Feb. 1833 which he had recognized as representing a bird of this species, professedly taken from one said to have been shot two or three years before at Powerscourt in Ireland, where it was flying about with some Swallows! The specimen was said to be in the possession of a gentleman at Dublin; but, though the description is accurate, the contributor did not give his name, and his statement is hard to believe.

BILL OF SHOVELER. (After Swainson.)

SHOVELARD, a word by which used to be meant the bird now almost invariably called SPOONBILL, but in the latter half of the 17th century transferred to one hitherto generally, and in these days locally, known as the Spoon-billed Duck-the Anas clypeata of Linnæus and Spatula or Rhynchaspis clypeata of modern writers. All these names refer to the shape of the bird's bill, which, combined with the remarkably long lamellæ (not wholly incomparable with the "whalebone" of the toothless Cetaceans) that beset both maxilla and mandible, has been thought sufficient to remove the species from the Linnæan genus Anas. Except for this exaggerated feature, which carries with it a clumsy look, the male Shoveler would pass for one of the most beautiful of this generally beautiful group of birds. As it is, for bright and variegated colouring, there are few of his kindred to whom he is inferior. His golden eye, his dark green head, surmounting a throat of pure white and succeeded by a breast and flanks of rich bay, are conspicuous; while his deep brown back, white scapulars, lesser wing-coverts (often miscalled "shoulders ") of a glaucous blue, and glossy green speculum bordered with white, present a wonderful contrast of the richest tints, heightened again by his bright orange feet. On the other hand, the female, except the blue wing-coverts she has in common with her mate, is habited very like the ordinary Wild DUCK, A. boscas (pp. 168-170). The Shoveler is not an abundant species, and in Great Britain its distribution is local; but its numbers have remarkably increased since the passing of the Wild-Fowl Protection Act in 1876,1 so that in certain districts it has regained its old position as an indigenous member of our Fauna. It has not ordinarily a very high northern range, but inhabits the greater part of Europe, Asia and America, passing southwards, like most of the Anatida, towards winter, constantly reaching India, Ceylon, Abyssinia, the Antilles and Central America, while it is known to have occurred at that season in New Granada, and, according to Gould, in Australia. Generally resembling in its habits the other freshwater Ducks, the Shoveler has one peculiarity that has been rarely mentioned, and one that is perhaps correlated with the structure of its bill. It seems to be especially given to feeding on

1 Prior to that year there was perhaps only one district in England wherein the Shoveler could be said to breed regularly, and thereto only a few pairs resorted. Ten years later there must have been a dozen counties in which it nested, and in some of them the pairs breeding might be reckoned by the score, while at the present time the number of counties might be safely doubled.

the surface of the water immediately above the spot where Diving Ducks (POCHARD) are employing themselves beneath. On such occasions a pair of Shovelers may be watched, almost for the hour together, swimming in a circle, about a yard in diameter, their heads turned inwards towards its centre, their bills immersed vertically in the water, and engaged in sifting, by means of the long lamella before mentioned, the floating matters that are disturbed by their submerged allies and rise to the top. These gyrations are executed with the greatest ease, each Shoveler of the pair merely using the outer leg to impel it on its circular course, and to the observer the prettiest part of the performance is the precision with which each preserves its relative distance from its partner.

Four other species of the genus Spatula, all possessing the characteristic light blue "shoulders," have been described :-one, S. platalea, from the southern parts of South America, having the head, neck and upper back of a pale reddish-brown, freckled or closely spotted with dark brown, and a dull, bay breast with interrupted bars; a second, S. capensis, from South Africa, much lighter in colour than the female of S. clypeata; a third and a fourth, S. rhynchotis and S. variegata, from Australia and New Zealand respectively, these last much darker in general coloration, and the males possessing a white crescentic mark between the bill and the eye, but so much resembling each other that their specific distinctness is denied by good authority (cf. Salvadori, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxvii. p. 315). In these last two the sexual difference is well marked by the plumage; but in the South-American and SouthAfrican species it would seem that both male and female have much the same appearance, as is the case with so many species of the restricted genus Anas, though this cannot yet be asserted with certainty. Apparently allied to the genus Spatula is Malacorhynchus

membranaceus, the "Pink-eye of Australians-so called from a spot of that colour, so uncommon in birds, just behind the eye in the drakes-which has a BILL OF MALACORHYNCHUS. (After Swainson.) soft and flexible maxilla, having near the end on either side a triangular cutaneous flap. It has lamella highly developed; but its fasciated plumage of greyishbrown and white has no resemblance to that of any member of the genus Spatula. Another bird possessing somewhat similar

1 This mark is observable in several forms of Anatida, and especially in the Blue-winged and Cinnamon TEALS of America, Anas or Querquedula discors and cyanoptera, species which not only exhibit in a still greater degree the blue "shoulders" of the Shoveler, but also have very well-developed lamella on the basal half of the bill.

though smaller maxillary flap, and marked by a very peculiar style of coloration, is the "Blue Duck" of New Zealand, Hymenolamus malacorhynchus, from its lobated hallux generally placed among

the Nyrocina or Fuligulina (POCHARD), but having a tracheal conformation very similar to that of the Anatina and of Somateria.1

SHRIEKER, an old name for the GODWIT.

SHRIKE, a bird's name so given, on the authority of Sir Francis Lovell, by Turner (1544, sub voce Molliceps), who said he could not find any one else who so called it, and had seen the bird but twice in England, though in Germany often. There can be little doubt that Turner's informant was mistaken, and that the name, signifying a bird that screeches or shrieks (A.-S. Scric, old Norsk Skrikja, mod. Scand. Skrika-a Jay) probably applied originally to the Mistletoe-THRUSH, known to Charleton in 1668 (Onomast. p. 83) as SHREITCH, and to Willughby as SHRITE-a name it still bears in some parts of England, to say nothing of cognate forms such as SCREECH-BIRD and SHIRL. However, the word Shrike 2 was caught up by succeeding writers; and, though hardly used except in books -for BUTCHER-BIRD (p. 66) is its popular synonym-it not only retains a position in literary English, but has been largely extended so as to apply in general to all birds of the Family Laniide and others besides. The name Lanius, in this sense, originated with Gesner 3 (1555), who thought that the birds to which he gave it had not

1 As this page is passing through the press I am indebted to Capt. Hutton for a specimen which enables me to make the above remark. G. R. Gray shewed (Ann. Nat. Hist. xi. pp. 369-371) that it has no affinity to Malacorhynchus, to which Wagler (Isis, 1832, p. 1235) referred it.

2 Few birds enjoy such a wealth of local names as the Shrikes. M. Rolland (Faune Pop. France, ii. pp. 146-151) gives upwards of ninety applied to them in France and Savoy; but not one of these has any affinity to our word "Shrike."

3 He does not seem to have known that Butcher-bird was an English name; and indeed it may have been subsequently invented (cf. FLUSHER).