382 SPOONBILL. 



but south of 56° N. lat. it breeds in suitable localities, even as 

 near as Holland, where, however, its haunts are rapidly being 

 drained. Its arrival is usually in April, and it remains till Sep- 

 tember, or a little later. To France it is now merely a wanderer, 

 though in the time of Belon it used to nest on trees in Brittany and 

 Poitou ; but it breeds in the south of Spain, as well as along the 

 Danube and in the Black Sea district, whence it emigrates in winter. 

 Eastward, its summer range extends from Asia Minor to India, 

 Ceylon, and Northern China ; while in Africa our Spoonbill appears 

 to be resident at least as far south as the Dahalac Archipelago in 

 the Red Sea. In the south of that continent the representative 

 species is P. temiirostris, while other members of the genus are 

 found in Australia and South-eastern Asia. Our bird can be traced 

 to the Canaries, Madeira and the Azores ; but the Roseate Spoon- 

 bill of America belongs to a structurally different genus, Ajaja. 



The nests, usually formed of piled-up reeds, are placed on the 

 mud among rushes, as in Holland ; on the submerged branches of 

 willows, as in Slavonia &c. ; or on trees, as already mentioned; the last 

 being a favourite site in India and Ceylon. In Europe laying begins 

 late in April or early in May, the eggs, 4 in number, being deposited 

 at considerable intervals ; they are rough in texture, and are dull 

 white, streaked and spotted with reddish-brown in colour : average 

 measurements 2-5 by i"8 in. The food consists of small fish, 

 frogs, molluscs, aquatic insects and crustaceans, obtained in shallow 

 pools ; and WoUey noticed that the bird, while feeding, kept its 

 bill immersed, upon which, as on a pivot, a movement in a semi- 

 circle was rapidly maintained by the whole body. In captivity the 

 Spoonbill is inoffensive to other species, and will eat any sort of 

 offal. It is said to emit a grunting note, but it has no true vocal 

 muscles ; in old birds of both sexes, however, a singular figure-of- 

 8-like convolution of the windpipe is found, though this is absent in 

 the young. 



The adult male in spring has the plumage white, with a tinge of 

 yellow on the occipital crest and at the bottom of the neck ; bill 

 yellow at the tip, the rest black, barred with yellow ; gular region 

 orange; irides red ; legs and feet black. Length 32 in. ; wing i4'5. 

 The female is slightly smaller and has less crest than the male. 

 In the young bird the bill is narrower at the tip, more flexible, 

 and of a livid flesh-colour ; the irides are ash-colour, the shafts 

 and ends of the quill-feathers are black, and the occipital plumes 

 are wanting. 



