PLATAT^EID.I^. 



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THE SPOONBILL, 

 Platalfa leucok<)dia, Linnosus. 



In the days of Willughby and Sir Thomas Browne the Spoonbill 

 used to nest on trees — in company with Herons — in Norfolk and 

 Suffolk ; and Mr. J. E. Harting has drawn attention to earlier 

 breeding-places near Goodwood in Sussex, and even at Fulham in 

 Middlesex (Zool. 1877, p. 425 ; 1886, p. 81) : its usual name in the 

 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries being 'Shoveler,' or 'Shove- 

 lard.' Even now the bird is by no means unfrequent in East 

 Anglia, and along the south coast it is found from time to time, 

 especially in Cornwall ; while occasionally it wanders up the 

 Thames valley, and even to Wales, though on the west side of 

 England it is rare. Nine specimens have been recorded from 

 Yorkshire, but northward it is of rare occurrence ; stragglers have, 

 however, been obtained in the Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands. 

 To Ireland it is a very irregular visitor, and principally to the 

 southern districts. 



In Scandinavia and Northern Russia the Spoonbill is uncommon, 



