The shoveler is the handsomest of the British freshwater ducks, and the most singular in appearance, on account of the great breadth of its spoon-like bill. Its plumage also, although beautiful, strikes one as somewhat singular; for it is rare to find pale and delicate hues, like those on the wings and upper parts of this duck, together with a deep, rich colouring, as on the head, upper neck, and under parts. The pale blue and pure white contrast beautifully with the deep green and chestnut-brown. Another most interesting point in the shoveler’s history is its distribution. There is but one shoveler duck in the northern hemisphere, over which it has an immense range, including Europe, North Africa, Asia, and North America from Alaska to Panama. But in the southern hemisphere there are four other species, occupying respectively the four following widely separated regions--South America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The shoveler is a winter visitor to the British Islands; it also breeds sparingly in some localities in the Midlands, in East Anglia, and the northern counties; also in the Hebrides, and in one or two spots in Ireland. It is a very early breeder, placing its nest, lined with dry grass and down, on the ground, usually near the water, and it lays eight to fourteen eggs, pale greenish buff in colour. In the breeding season it utters a low quack, but at other times is a silent bird. Tufted Duck. Fuligula cristata. [Illustration: FIG. 83.--TUFTED DUCK. ¹⁄₁₁ natural size.] Black, the head and neck with purplish gloss; speculum, flanks, and belly white; bill pale blue; irides brilliant yellow; legs and feet dark blue. Length, seventeen inches. _Female_: dark brown; under parts brownish grey. Male changes colour in May. * * * * * Of sea or diving ducks (including the mergansers) no fewer than twenty species, referable to nine genera, have been described as ‘British.’ Of this number nine species are irregular visitants or stragglers, and may be dismissed with a mention of their names: Red-crested pochard (_Fuligula rufina_), white-eyed duck (_Nyroca ferruginea_), Barrow’s goldeneye (_Clangula islandica_), buffel-headed duck (_C. albeola_), harlequin duck (_Cosmonetta histrionica_), Steller’s duck (_Heniconetta Stelleri_); king eider (_Somateria spectabilis_); surf-scoter (_Œdemia perspicillata_), and hooded merganser (_Mergus cucullatus_).