SPOONBILL. 99 



with slow and measured wing-beats, but on the wing can 

 immediately be distinguished from the Heron, for it carries its 

 neck outstretched, and though the red legs trail behind they 

 sag a little and are not in a straight line with the long axis of 

 the body. The Stork is a silent bird ; it has no flight call ; but 

 in the breeding season and under excitement it claps or clatters 

 its bill, at times so rapidly as to produce a trill. 



The sexes are alike and the young bird is browner on the 

 wings, and its bill and legs are duller. The irides are brown. 

 Length, 40 ins. Wing, 23 ins. Tarsus, 8*8 ins. 



Black Stork. Ciconia nigra (Linn.). 



Less frequent in its visits than the last species, the Black 

 Stork (Plate 38), which has a wider but roughly similar range, 

 has occurred, chiefly in southern counties, in England, but not in 

 Scotland or Ireland. Its whole plumage, except for a white 

 lower breast and abdomen, is black, with variable metallic 

 sheen— purple, green, or coppery. Its bill and orbits, bare 

 skin on the pouch, and legs, are bright red ; its irides aie 

 brown. In general carriage, flight, and food it differs little from 

 the White Stork, but is as shy as the other is trusting ; it shuns 

 houses and delights in the wilds. In England it has been met 

 with on both spring and autumn migration. Length, 38 ins. 

 Wing, 22 ins. Tarsus, 7*5 ins. 



Family PLATALEID^. Spoonbills. 



Bill wide and flat at end ; toes partly webbed. 



Spoonbill. Platalea kiicorodia Linn. 



The summer range of the Spoonbill (Plate 36) extends over 

 central and southern Europe, Asia, and northern Afiica. It 

 breeds in Spain and Holland, but many of its former haunts 



