The Roseate Spoonbill (Aiaja ajaja) 



By F. M. Woodruff 



Length : 32 inches. 



In the words of Audubon, "the Roseate Spoonbill is to be met with, for the 

 most part, along the marshy or muddy borders of estuaries, the mouths of rivers, 

 on sea islands, or keys partially overgrown with bushes, and still more abundantly 

 along the shores of the salt-water bayous so common within a mile or two of the 

 shore. There it can reside and breed, with almost complete security, in the midst 

 of an abundance of food." I find that these words, quoted from the "Water Birds 

 of North America," very truthfully describe the home of this bird. Its range 

 extends from the southern Atlantic and Gulf States southward to the F"alkland 

 Islands and Patagonia. Its range at one time, many years ago, extended north- 

 ward in the Mississippi Valley to southern Illinois. 



When I first saw these Spoonbills it almost seemed as if Nature had made 

 some mistake in the creation of this grotesque combination of an almost repulsive 

 looking head and the exquisite shading of crimson and pink of the plumage on its 

 graceful body. In studying the Spoonbill in life, as it wades in the shallow pools 

 in the bayous and salt marshes, one is surprised at the wonderful dexterity with 

 which it uses its light spoon-shaped bill. It is a persistent and rapid worker, 

 moving its bill from side to side on the surface of the muddy bottom for small 

 mollusks and sea weeds. It is amusing to see the Spoonbills at times walking one 

 behind the other, and often the one in front is pushed ahead causing it to go 

 through sundry antics, and occasionally the maneuvers end in a fight, '^he antics 

 of these thirds are so interesting that I am afraid that my engagement in watching 

 them has often caused me to neglect work in other lines of nature study. 



The lonely bayous between Brazos, Texas, and Matagorda Bay are excellent 

 places to observe the habits of this and many other species of birds. If one is 

 so fortunate as to find a locality where the birds have not been molested, a light 

 blind may be erected within a few feet of the water's edge and all of the waders 

 may be decoyed to close range. The numerous bayous along the Gulf coast wideu 

 out inland forming large lakes which are left bare, or nearly so, by the outgoing 

 tide. One of the most beautiful sights I ever witnessed, while in my blind, was a 

 time when I had a large flock of white-faced glossy ibises, wood ibises, snowy 

 herons and Roseate Spoonbills all within fifty yards from me. The combination 

 was dazzling. The Spoonbills and the glossy ibises would sail in and away at an 

 easy angle, while the wood ibises would circle and sail until almost out of sight. 



The Spoonbills are always gregarious at all seasons in coveys of a half dozen 

 or more. "At the approach of the breeding season these small flocks collect to- 

 gether, forming immense collections, after the manner of the ibis, and resort to 

 their former breeding-places, to which they almost invariably return. In flight 

 the Spoonbills resemble the herons with easy flappings of the wings. Their necks 

 are thrown forward to their full length and their legs are stretched out behind. 



874 



