THE SPOONBILL 141 



The use of this very remarkable beak is apparent 

 when the bird is seen feeding ; it is held low down 

 on the surface of the water, and pushed along, like 

 a shrimper's net, in front of the bird, so as to 

 collect the minute organisms which constitute its 

 food. I have also seen this beak driven deep down, 

 and brought to the surface bearing long strings of 

 grass and other water weeds. In February 1909, 

 when walking along the front at Luxor, — with its 

 hotels and shops, crowds of people and noisy 

 donkey-boys, — I was startled by quite a big flock of 

 Spoonbills that were beaten down low by a strong 

 wind. They passed so close over my head that I 

 saw their big flat beaks and long extended necks 

 quite plainly : as they got farther away their general 

 likeness to Swans in flight was most striking. 



Like all birds showing any marked peculiarity 

 in the shape or size of the beak, the Spoonbill 

 wears a somewhat melancholy air, and my readers 

 will doubtless recall this appearance in the case of 

 Herons and Storks, Pelicans and Cormorants. 



Time was when the Spoonbill was once common 

 in Great Britain ; this is now, unhappily, no longer 

 the case, but no farther away than Holland it still 

 lives and breeds. 



