The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-17
PARIAH OF WILD FOWLS.
TIE SPoONBILL OHEERFUL rHoUGH
DESPISED OF DUCKS.

n Sreat river and Hard to Hit on the Wator~-
Eats It's Own Weight Daily-Fat and
Affords Good Eating Upon occasion-Its
Bird OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES ColoEinE.
RHINHLANDER, Wis. Sept 8. Over the PEN
okee iron range, clearing its submits by thous-
and feet above the thckly wooded lands of the
huge State park, the spoonbills are pouring down
from the upper shores OF Lake Superior TO Join
tho teal in the long southwark flight which will
land them near tho Gulf OF Mexico. Already in
Tho chill countries from which they come thin ice
IN forming along the edges Of still ponds and the
frost In the cir bites shrewdly Of nights They
have waited in the marshes and little lakes be-
yond Superior until they attained full length Of
pinion and full plumpness Of breast They will
take In the shallower reaches OF the Wisconsin
and Fox rivers on their way down. tarry little
while in the Horizon Marshes fly to tho swamps
which border the Illinois River and then make
long leg southwark and west of the Nississppi
They will arrive at their iournoy's end in October
and will remain in the Gull countries until late
In the next spring.
The winds Of March will DO blowing before they
head north again. Going up from tho latitude
Of Washington, the teal are tho first ducks en-
countered on their breeding grounds. Then come
the spoonbills or shovelers, then tho springtails
or pitfalls, then tho widgeons and gadwells,
then tho mallards, then the canvasbacks and red
heads and last Of all tho little butterball which
remains in the north in flying seet and binding
snow almost until every foot Of water Ia open no
longer It is an unvarying rule that the further
north duck Breeds the later IL stays in the north
when tho fall season has arrived. Inability to
stand cold weather governs them in the selection
OF their homes and directs them in their times Of
southery fight The swarms Of the spoonbills
como from the northern part Of Michigan and
from Minnesota 1t is in sense q cold-water
duck though II will endure lower temperature
than the teal, and II will stand any amount Of
hot weather II food be plentiful. Tho mother
rears from five TO in her brood and the bird
Ia never seen in the enormous focks which 10
ono Of tho tcals most marked characteristics.
Its numbers have not decreased OF late years,
for the reason that it is not esteemed table fowl
and hunters will not kill il If they can get anything
else in the duck line.
The spoonbil is tho pariah Of the wildiowi
world II is Of a solitary character but it's soli-
tude 10 enforced. Other ducks will have nothing
10 do with IT. They seem 10 feel that 1t is a de-
graded thing, and that association with II acts az
slur upon themselves Often the spoonful
seeks In unobtrusive fashion to worm itself into
the company Of q flock Of sprigs or mallards, but
they will have mono Of H. Either they crowd to-
gethcr around II and seek to bury II in the water
under their weight they rise with low squawks
OF contempt and wing their way TO other watera
leaving II alone but not discouraged. Their req.
son can DO nothing save racial dislike and dis
approval Of the spoonbill's mode Of gaining
living, because it has no decided manners, no
offensive smell, and is not Of particularly displeas-
ing appearance. Because Of tho unwillingness
OF the lordlier members Of the duck family permit
II TO swim and eat with them the shoveller, as IL
lie sometimes called, has not become misan thropcal
and II chersheS no resentment Ii continues to try
70 force Its company on Others and 10 earn an
excellent living according 10 its standards OF
living Indeed II gets more than enough TO eat
even for its enormous appetite. Some times In
the Southern winters when acorns duckweed,
SIENNA pods and wild rice are infreouent the mall
lards, widgeons. and springs will be low in flesh,
but nobody ever saw poor spoonbill It will
get fat and stay fat wherever there is water, be-
cause wherever there is water there is mud. and
mud is tho thing that keeps the spoonful ava
1t finds therein the larvD Of water insects semi
dccayed seeds, odorous fish, and many other
forms Of refuse in quantity. It's method Of feed
Ing is to scurry along the bottom with It's shovel
bill buried halfinch In tho mud, and whatever
enters tho slightly opened mandibles In held 10
DO good eating. Next 10 tho di-dapper, or hell
diver. the spoonful is the greatest Of all diver,
among the fresh-water birds The length OF
tmo II 10 able TO remain under the surface is pho
nomenal II frightened, it will stay down three
full minutes by mans watch and il Is as likely
as not to reappear hundred yards from the spot
where II went down. This means that the bird
has great lung development and sustained
heart action. Its power to take in air and tho
regularity OF its blood are a help to Il
In making long fights The spoonful has been
known 70 travel six hundred miles in a night,
when making its Southern Journey and flying
n VCh
places where it might obtain its precious mud.
In size the spoonbi is but little larger than tho
teal 1t is Of sturdier shape with a plumper
breast II is OF light brown or dun in general
shading and in each wing the male has few slaty
blue feathers much like the blucwinged teal II
is not to bo mistaken for the teal however because
OF the shsp, Of its bill, which is unlike that OF
any other duck This bill is long for the size of
the head, and at tho lower end is rdculously
widened and flattened. When the birds manner
Of life Is taken into consideration its use is obvious
II is not unlike shovel and is welded in exactly
the shovel fashion. The hue of the spoonbll
makes II one OF the most remarkable examples Of
protective coloring in all nature Through CEN
turtles Of endeavor 10 become usually assimilated
with its surroundings it has developed hue that
matches precisely with the hue Of the grasses of tho
marshy waters which it frequents This was
necessary to il because il has not the teas preser-
vative speed, nor the wood ducks ability to take
70 tho sheltering branches OF trees, nor the COM
bincd weight and velocity OF the widgeons. nor tho
size and strength which makes tho mallard a diff
fcult prey to any wanderer OF the upper dceps
except the eagle The spoonbill exists to-day
because Of It's ability TO hide This has bred in i.
an intense watchfulness, coupled with an interest
to lie hidden which will cause il to remain without
motion In the long grass weeds until the boats
prov, or the gum-boot OF the wader Is almost upon
IL No winged thing will lie moro closely except
tho quail This applies to II when In cover II
II Is found on open water. II Is az shy as any other
duck and will either take fight or dive for shelter
at the first hint OF danger
Asa swimmer it has no superiors The solitary
hunter who has had surfeit of the shotgun and
is nosing about some small sedgy lake merely
TO observe Its denzens, will see ahead Of him a
flock OF spring-tails, numbering possibly twenty.
As his boat sneaks toward them slowly thoy will
begin TO bear away from him. swimming as swiftly
as Is in them. Out from their front will como
one or more small brown ducks leaving them as
II they We're sitting still. These will be spoon
bills which have probably lust Joined tho flock