Bird lore - Project Puffin

The Shoveller 57
potato, which is about the size of an onion "set." Cut it open and the substance
within the rind will be seen closely to resemble that of a potato. All river and
pond Ducks are very fond of this wild food, and if any Shovellers are
about they are pretty sure to get their share. They are usually silent birds
while feeding, but on their breeding-grounds may frequently be heard talking
among themselves, their one favorite word being "took," many times repeated.
Shovellers feed mostly at night, especially in places where they are much
pursued by gunners. I have often seen dozens of flocks come from the marshes
at sunrise and fly out to the open water, far from any place where a gunner
might hide. There, if the weather is fair and not too windy, they will often
remain until the shades of night and the pangs of hunger again call them back
to the tempting marshes. They do not gather in enormous flocks, like some
other Ducks. I have never seen over forty in one company, and very often
they pass by in twos and threes. In hunting them the fowler usually con-
ceals himself in a bunch of tall grass or rushes, on or near the margin of an
open pond; and, after anchoring, near by, twenty or thirty wooden duckdummies
called decoys, sits down to wait the coming of the birds. Sometimes
the Ducks fly by at a distance of several hundred yards. It is then that the
hunter begins to lure them by means of his artificial Duck-call. "Quack-quack,
quack-quack," comes his invitation from the rushes. The passing birds,
unless too intent on their journey to heed the cry, see what they suppose to be
a company of Mallards and other Ducks evidently profiting by a good feed-
ing-place, and, turning, come flying in to settle among the decoys. It is just
at this moment, with headway checked and dangling feet, that they present
an easy mark for the concealed gunner.
Audubon declared the flesh of the Shoveller to be as good for the table as
that of a Canvasback, and other writers have made similar statements. While
visiting the Delta Duck Club, near the mouth of the Mississippi River, recently,
I found that the members of the Club did not rate the Shoveller particularly
high as a game-bird; in fact, Mr. Dymond, the President of the Club, told me
that he usually let them go by without firing at them. In other hunting regions,
where I have visited and talked with gunners, I found that Shovellers were
regarded about as highly as Teals, and were usually shot whenever an oppor-
tunity offered.
The bird's body is really not greatly larger than that of the Teal, although
its appearance seems to indicate a decidedly heavier bird. For some unknown
reason Shovellers seem never to get fat hke other Ducks, and perhaps this is
one reason why some hunters do not care much for them. They are very swift
flyers, and sometimes travel, doubtless, at the rate of from sixty to eighty
miles an hour.
The summer home of the Shoveller tribe is in the vast expanse of territory
between Minnesota and Alaska, although some pairs breed as far south as
Texas; but they are rarely found nesting in the eastern United States.