264 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA 



It evidently comes north along with various herons and the Wood 

 Ibis after the close of its breeding season in the south. 



In the field as well as in the hand the Roseate Spoonbill is easily 

 recognized. The pink color of its plumage may be seen at a con- 

 siderable distance, and the thin, flat, broad-ended bill (figs. 42 and 43) 

 is totally different from that of any other bird found in the state. The 

 flight is stated to be somewhat ibis-like, the neck being fully extended. 

 I'he wing-strokes are, however, continuous, and not interrupted by 

 short intervals of gliding. Spoonbills frequent the shores of ponds 

 and streams, and in Mexico are also found along the seacoast. 



The breeding season appears to be exceedingly variable and greatly 

 extended. There are records of eggs in Florida and Cuba from Jan- 

 uary to August and young have been seen in the nest in December 

 (Cooke, 1913, pp. 13-14). The following account of the breeding 

 habits of this bird is given by Davie (1889, p. 86) : 



Marshy or muddy borders of estuaries, the mouths of rivers, shrubby 

 islands of tropical seas, or some dense marsh, are the favorite breeding 

 resorts. 



Mr. E. E. Rachford visited a small eolony of these birds in Southwestern 

 Louisiana, June 2, 1886. The birds were found nesting in a clump of cypress 

 trees in a low marshy place fully twenty miles from habitation. Here also 

 nested the Snowy, Louisiana and Little Blue Herons and the Snake Bird. 



The nests of the Spoonbills were placed from eight to eighteen feet from 

 the ground, and the usual number of eggs found in the nests was three or 

 four; although from one nest seven eggs were taken, and five or six from 

 several others. The nests were platforms of sticks, and for the most part were 

 built close to the trunks of the trees; they were usually more massive than 

 the Herons nests. 



The general shape of the eggs is ovate; and their color is white, or buflfy- 

 white, blotched, spotted and stained with various shades of brown; sometimes 

 a pure white egg is found in a nest with spotted or marked examples. 



The general habits of the Roseate Spoonbill are evidently much 

 like those of the ibises. Its manner of feeding, however, is different, 

 for the bird immerses the bill and swings it from side to side to sift 

 the food out of the mud (Chapman, 1912, p. 217). It is said to feed 

 on insects and shellfish, and to forage almost entirely at night. 



Like the several species of ibises this bird is said sometimes to take 

 wing without apparent provocation, and then ascend gradually, in a 

 spiral manner, to a great height. It is often found in the company of 

 herons, and it often happens that these, by their own natural vigilance, 

 are able to warn it of the approach of danger. The Roseate Spoonbill 

 can alight on a tree and walk on the branches wnth all the facility of a 

 heron (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, 1884, I, pp. 105-106). 



The Roseate Spoonbill is not a true game bird, for it is a near 

 relative of the herons. It chances to be included among the game 



