WHITE SPOONBILL. 189 
May 20th. About this date a single individual was 
observed for some days on Hickling broad, and was 
probably the bird killed on the 10th of June, at the 
same place, which came into the possession of Mr. 
F. Norgate, of Sparham, and proved to be a young 
male. 
1867. Three or four were seen in the spring about 
Burgh-flats, but none shot that I could ascertain. 
1868. May 4th. Two males shot at Yarmouth; 
one weighed four pounds, and was darker in plumage 
than the other, not having perfected its moult, but it 
had the longer crest of the two. The other, now in my 
collection, weighed three pounds and a-half. In both 
the eyes were carmine-red, and they had a yellowish tinge 
across the breast. In one the stomach was empty with 
the exception of soft silty matter, the other was filled 
with the remains of shrimps, and scales of small fish 
and sand. A much older bird in Mr. Overend’s collec- 
tion, at Yarmouth, was killed on Breydon about the 
same time. 
From an examination of the above list of specimens 
it will be seen that the spoonbill is chiefly a spring 
and summer visitant to this county, since of those, of 
which the date of occurrence is known, only eight have 
appeared towards the latter part of the year, two in 
August, one in September, three in October, and two 
in November.* The remainder in February (one), 
March and April (two), May (eighteen), June (ten), and 
one in July, whilst the large flock at Yarmouth, in 
1774, is said to have arrived in April. The majority 
* By Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear this species is said to have 
appeared near Yarmouth, “generally during the winter season ;” 
and Colonel Montagu speaks of the occasional appearance of the 
spoonbill in winter, in the south of England, and in his supple- 
ment records the occurrence of a young bird, near King’s Bridge, 
South Devon, in November, 1804. 
