306 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
PLATALEA LEUCORODIA (Blanford, Vol. IV., p. 366 ; 
Legge, p. 1096). 
The Spoonbill. 
Description.—Plumage white; adults have a patch of 
cinnamon on the lower neck. In the breeding season a crest 
of pointed plumes is assumed. The skin of the face in front 
of the eye is naked and yellow ; the skin of the throat is also 
naked and yellowish-red. 
In young birds the primary quills have black shafts, and 
the outermost quills are tipped with black. 
Bill in adults black, yellow at the tip; in young birds 
mainly yellow ; iris red; legs and feet black. 
Length 33; wing 15; tail 5; tarsus 6; bill from gape 8. 
Distribution.—Met with in small flocks on large tanks and 
marshes in the wilder parts of the dry zone. Occurs here and 
there on the well-watered plains of the Indian peninsula, 
but unknown in Burma ; ranges from Central Europe to East 
Africa and through Central Asia to China. 
Habits —An extremely shy bird. The species is resident, 
and breeds about March in small colonies by the water-side. 
The nest is a large massive structure of sticks placed in a tree. 
The eggs are two to five in number, chalky-white ovals with 
a few brown blotches ; average size about 2°5 by 1°8. 
Sub-order CICONIAL. 
Family Ciconmp@&. 
Storks. 
The Storks are a familiar and widely-distributed family of 
large birds. Many of them are migratory, breeding in tem- 
perate regions and wintering southwards ; others are resident 
in the warmer regions of the world. The neck is long; the 
bill long, stout, pointed, and generally straight. The nostrils 
are placed at the base of the bill, but there is no distinct nasal 
groove. The structure of the windpipe is peculiar, the voice 
muscles being absent, so that the birds are dumb. The legs 
are long, the measurements of the tarsus and of the bill from 
gape to tip being equal or almost equal ; the lower half of the 
tibia® is naked. The toes are fairly short but broad, and 
