HERODIONES. 



WHITE SPOONBILL. 237 



PLATALEID^. 



-Ki^^ 



Platalea leucorodia, Linnfeus.* 



THE WHITE SPOONBILL. 



Platalea leucorodia. 



Platalea, Linnceusf. — Bill very long, strong, very much flattened, dilated 

 at the point, rounded in the form of a spoon ; upper mandible channelled and 

 transversely grooved at the base. Nostrils on the upper surface of the beak, 

 near together, oblong, open, bordered by a membrane. Forehead, lore, orbits, 

 and chin, naked. Legs long, strong, three toes in front, united as far as the 

 second articulation by a membrane, the marginal edge of which is deeply 

 concave ; hind toe long. Wings rather large ; the third quill-feather nearly as 

 long as the second, which is the longest in the wing. 



The Spoonbill is recorded as a British bird by Merrett, 

 on the authority of Dr. Turner, and Sir Kobert Sibbald 



* Platalea Leucorodia, Linnseus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 2.31 (1766). 

 f loc. cit. 



