THE SPOONBILL 49 



places are gradually being destroyed. We have 

 ample evidence to show that the Spoonbill was 

 formerly widely if locally distributed over the 

 southern and eastern portions of England and in 

 the south of Wales. In England, in the olden 

 days, the Spoonbill was known by the names of 

 " Popeler," " Shovelard," and " Shoveler," whilst the 

 Duck known to us by the latter term was then 

 called a " Spoonbill." We learn many interesting 

 facts about the Spoonbill from ancient records — 

 that it used to build in company with Herons in 

 Norfolk and Suffolk ; that earlier still there were 

 colonies of Spoonbills established at Fulham in 

 Middlesex, and in some of the woods of West 

 Sussex. There are also records of this species 

 breeding in trees in Pembrokeshire. The last 

 breeding - place of the Spoonbill in England of 

 which we appear to have any record was at 

 Trimley in Suffolk. This was about the year 

 1670. It is difficult to assign any reason for the 

 Spoonbill's extinction in this country. The reclama- 

 tion of fens and marshes is not a sufficiently satis- 

 factory explanation, for the Spoonbill appears to 

 have been equally at home in high trees ; a more 

 feasible cause of its disappearance may have been 

 the destruction of timber and tlie breaking up of 



