ANAS CLYPEATA, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 200.—_Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 856.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 382. SHOVELLER, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. viii. p. 45, pl. 67, fig. 7. ANAS CLYPEATA, SHOVELLER, _Richards. and Swains._ Faun. Bor. Amer. vol. ii. p. 439. SHOVELLER, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 439. Adult Male. Plate CCCXXVII. Fig. 1. Bill longer than the head, higher than broad at the base, depressed and much widened towards the end, where its breadth is doubled. Upper mandible with the dorsal line sloping and very slightly concave, the ridge at the base broad, narrowed over the nostrils; sides nearly erect at the base, gradually more decimate and convex; the tip very broadly rounded, with the unguis oblong, rather small, curved and rounded at the extremity; the margins soft, with very numerous lamellæ, which are prolonged beyond the edges and taper to a point, unless at the commencement of the broadest part of the bill. Nasal groove elliptical, and filled by the soft membrane of the bill; nostrils elliptical, pervious, placed near the ridge. Lower mandible slightly curved upwards, with the angle very long and narrow, the unguis obovate. Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed, rounded above; neck moderate; body rather full, slightly depressed. Feet short, stout, placed a little behind the centre of the body; legs bare a little above the joint; tarsus very short, moderately compressed, anteriorly with small scutella, and an external short series of larger, on the other parts reticulated with small scales. Hind toe very small, with a narrow free membrane; third toe longest, fourth almost as long; the three anterior slender, with numerous oblique scutella, and connected by webs which have the margin concave and denticulate; the inner toe with a broad margin. Claws small, arched, compressed, acute; that of middle toe slightly dilated on the inner edge. Plumage dense, soft, and elastic; of the head and neck short, blended, and splendent, of the occiput and nape considerably elongated; of the other parts in general broad and rounded. Wings of moderate length, acute; primaries narrow and tapering, the first longest, the second very little shorter; the secondaries broad, curved inwards; the inner elongated and tapering. Tail short, rounded, of fourteen acute feathers, of which the two middle extend five twelfths of an inch beyond the next.