NESTS AA'D EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 547 



(1— sparingly marked) 2-63 x 1-67, (2— with markings) 2-58 x 1-73, 

 (3 — without markings) 2-53 x 1-71, (4 — witliout marldngs) 2-53 x 1-69. 



OlLiirvfitions. — The Royal or Black-billod Spoonbill is at once dis- 

 tingiiishcd from the other Australian spcdes by its black face and bill, 

 besides being the smaller bird. It is a tolei-ably common species in 

 its peculiar haunts, especially in Northern Australia, and may be often 

 seen fraternising with its cousins, the Ibises and the Yellow-legged 

 Spoonbills. 



During my visit to Northern Queensland, I witnessed an interesting 

 sight — a flock of these birds perched on a dead tree. How oddly the 

 black bill, face and legs contrasted with the pure white plumage of the 

 birds! The long, flat bill, about one tliird the total length of the 

 bird, looked decidedly awkward to handle, and appeared sometimes to 

 be in the way, however useful an appendage for prospecting the murky 

 mud of marshy places. 



This Spoonbill is occasionally met with in southern parts, notably 

 Riverina. Tlie late Mr, Gilbert Bateman infonned me he once found 

 a nest of this species containing five eggs, during the season 1889, in 

 the reed-beds of Moira Lake. 



In describing eggs from the same locality, Mr. A. J. North attaches 

 an interesting account (received, with specimens, through Mr. James 

 Kershaw, of the National Museum, Melbourne) by Mr. H. G. Everard. 

 Mr. Everard's note is as follows : " While Duck shooting, Christmas 

 Day, 1893, on one of the swamps along the banks of the River Murray, 

 about sixty miles above Echuca, and when nearing an Ibis rookery, 

 the man who was poling the boat drew my attention to a bu-d fl}ring 

 with the Wliite Ibis which we had disturbed, at the same time inform- 

 ing me that the bird was almost a stranger in those parts, and that he 

 had not seen a specimen for the previous four or five years. As it 

 would not leave the spot, but continued flying in a circle, we thought 

 there might possibly be a nest near at hand, so we concealed oiu' boat 

 in a bed of reeds and watched. After a little while all the Ibises, and 

 lastly the bird which I now recognised to be a Spoonbill, settled on an 

 adjacent bed of reeds. We approached as noiselessly as possible, 



and I was successful in shooting it. Upon examining the place, we 

 found the nest of the Spoonbill built amongst those of the White Ibis. 

 It was an open, flat structure, composed of broken-down reeds and 

 twigs, measuring two feet across, and was placed about three feet above 

 the water. Tlie eggs, three in number, were in an advanced state of 

 incubation. All the nests of the Ibis contained young birds from about 

 one to two weeks old." 



Mr. S. W. Jackson has favoured me with the following note : 

 " Black-billed Spoonbill. Clutch of foiu- eggs was found in a swamp 

 on Nicholson River, North Queensland, on 25th April, 1898. Wliite 

 Ibises were breeding on the same swamp. The Spoonbill was twice 

 flushed from the nest before the eggs were taken. Nest was simply the 

 reeds bent down into a platform a little above water-mark, and eggs 

 laid thereon. The eggs were slightly incubated. Four more Black- 

 billed Spoonbills were observed on the same swamp, but although they 

 were watched carefully, no other nests were found." 



