262 



HEROX TRIBE 



it built near Goodwood, and other records indicate that Fulham, the 

 woods of W'hinburLjh, Cantle\', and W'ormLjay in Norfolk, as well as a 

 district in Pembrokeshire, have to be included amoni^ its ancient breed- 

 ing-places. \\'hether in those old days the shovclard, shoveler, or 

 popeler, as the bird was then commonly called, was a permanent resident 

 in England or merely a summer-visitor from Holland (where it is still 

 abundant), cannot now be determined, although it is quite probable 



that the latter was the 

 case. Despite the fact 

 that a flock of fourteen 

 was seen on a river in 

 Wales so recentl}' as the 

 }-car 1893. while there 

 are also records of flocks 

 a dozen or so strong in 

 Cornwall, the spoonbill 

 had some \'ears ago prac- 

 tically ceased to visit its 

 old Norfolk haunts, or at 

 all events was but very 

 seldom seen there. Bird- 

 protection is, however, 

 gradually having the effect 

 of inducing man}- of the 

 rarer species of birds to 

 make their appearance 

 once more on the Norfolk 

 coast, and among these 

 welcome strangers during 

 the last few \'cars have 

 been a considerable num- 

 ber of spoonbills. In May 1904 there were seen, for instance, no less 

 than seven of these beautiful birds at one time on Brcydon Broad, 

 while a month later four were seen in company at the same place, 

 three of which were believed to be new arrivals. Although such results 

 are highly encouraging, it can scarcely be anticipated that the spoon- 

 bill will ever again become a British-breeding bird. From time to 

 time a stray individual of the species is seen in counties other than 

 of East Anglia, an example having been recorded from Surre\-, for 

 instance, in 1902. To Scotland the spoonbill appears to have been 

 never anj'thing more than a rare and occasional visitor, and then 



■-I'l lOMni.i . 



