866 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 
position it may be placed it is generally made of dry 
reeds and weeds. 
The Spoonbill is considerably smaller than the 
Heron, and differs very much in appearance from 
that bird, in consequence of its very oddly-shaped 
beak, which is long and flat, swelling out at the tip 
into a broad flat spoon-shaped form, from which the 
bird takes its name: it is black, except the rounded 
part, which is yellow, as is the naked skin on the 
chin; the tongue is very small in proportion to the 
beak; in the adult bird the irides are red, in the 
young bird of the year they appear to be light grey* 
or hazel;+ in the adult bird the whole of the plumage 
is white, except a band of feathers at the bottom of 
the neck in front, which is of a buff colour—this tint 
extends upwards on each side; the feathers at the 
back of the head are very long, forming a crest; the 
legs, toes and claws are black, the two outer toes are 
connected by a membrane. In the young bird of the 
year the shafts and tips of the primary quills are 
black, as are the shafts of the greater wing-coverts, 
and there is no crest. 
The eggs, according to Yarrell, are white, spotted | 
with pale reddish brown; but in Meyer’s picture of 
the egg there are no spots. 
*« * Zoologist ’ for 1865, p. 9406. 
+ Id., 1866 (Second Series, p. 36). 
