SPOONBILL,. 517 
of the birds flew right away, but small parties of five or six were always on 
the wing near us. Their powerful Heron-like wings enabled them to sail 
along for considerable distances without much exertion ; and I noticed that 
they had a habit of dropping their legs occasionally, probably to assist them 
in keeping their balance in the high wind. Most of the nests were built 
upon a foundation of a few sticks, the perepal structure being of dead 
reeds lined with dry grass. 
In the valley of the Danube the Spoonbill breeds in low willow trees in 
colonies adjoining to, but not intermixed with, those of the Herons, Ibis, 
and Cormorant. In India its habits are very similar. Hume writes that 
he is acquainted with at least fifty of its breeding-places. In most cases 
these are placed close to, though not on, the same trees as those occupied 
by the Heron colonies. The Indian colonies of the Spoonbill are always 
found on trees, on the banks of a lake, or in a swamp, and generally near 
a village, sometimes absolutely in its midst. When built on trees, the 
nests appear to be larger than those constructed on the ground. Hume 
describes them as varying from two to three feet in diameter, and as 
being sometimes nearly a foot in thickness. They breed year after 
year in the same trees, and if the old nests are not blown down, they 
simply repair them. Hume found both eggs and young in August; but 
in the south of Ceylon Legge obtained highly incubated eggs at the end of 
March. 
The eggs of the Spoonbill are four or five in number, and vary much in 
size, shape, and colour: some are long and narrow, with the small end 
almost as blunt as the large end, and scarcely vary in shape from typical 
eggs of the Cormorant, whilst others are so round that they might easily 
be passed off by unprincipled dealers as eggs of the Kite. They are dull 
chalky white in ground-colour, sparingly spotted and blotched with small 
spots or short streaks, and occasionally large smudged blotches, principally 
at the large end, of reddish brown. Occasionally a few grey underlying 
spots are observable ; and sometimes the surface-markings form a zone 
round the large end of the egg. They vary in length from 2:9 to 2:2 
inch, and in breadth from 1°9 to 1:7 inch. Only one brood is reared in 
the year. 
The adult male Spoonbill in spring plumage is pure white, suffused with 
rusty yellow on the lower neck and crest, the latter consisting of a bunch 
of narrow feathers about six inches long. Bill black at the base and much 
corrugated, shading into yellow at the tip, which is smooth ; legs, feet, 
and claws black; irides brick-red; bare skin in front of the eye pale 
yellow ; chin extending to the upper throat bare of feathers and reddish 
yellow. ‘The female resembles the male in colour, but the crest is shorter. 
The winter plumage is similar to that of summer, but the crest is very small, 
and the yellow on the lower neck is probably absent. Young in first 
