APROPOS OF THE ROSEATE SPOONBILL 



The publication in the November Bulletin of Dr. Robert 

 Wilson's observation of the Roseate Spoonbill has brought to 

 the attention of the Editor several very interesting accounts 

 of the occurrence of this bird in Charleston and vicinity, 



In June, 1879, a Roseate Spoonbill v/as killed in Lucas Mill 

 Pond in Charleston. The skeleton was presented to the Mu- 

 seum by Dr. T. Grange Simons and mounted by Dr. G. E. 

 Manigault. It may now be seen in Agassiz Hall. The 

 plumage of the Roseate Spoonbill is shown by a mounted 

 skin also in Agassiz Hall. This bird, hov/ever, was not killed 

 in this vicinity. 



Dr. Simons states that about the year 1840 a Roseate 

 Spoonbill was killed in a pond near Charleston by his uncle, 

 Mr. Charles M. Bentham. The feathers of this bird were 

 preserved within his recollection. 



Mr. Henry L. Barker writes from Oakley Depot, S. C. , as 

 follows : 



"In the early sixties Elias A. Ball, then the owner of 

 * Dean Hall ' plantation, noticed one day a curious looking 

 bird feeding on the edge of the duck pond, and getting his 

 rifle he chanced a very long shot in the hope of securing it, 

 which fortunately he succeeding in doing, sending the ball 

 through the neck. It proved to be a Roseate Spoonbill, iden- 

 tified by the plate and description in Audubon, and was by 

 long odds the most beautiful bird I ever saw." 



The following statement from Rev. John Kershaw, D. D., 

 adds another record of this bird : ' ' About thirty years ago 

 while on a fishing trip near Morris Island my attention was at- 

 tracted to a bird that flev/ up from the marsh near by which, 

 as it went, uttered a succession of peculiar harsh cries. I 

 thought at first it was one of those small white cranes that 

 abound hereabouts, but I observed that its flight, the 

 movement of its wings, was different and swifter, that its 



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