47 
Family PLATALEID A. 
SPOONBILL. Platalea lewcorodia (Linneus). 
Coloured Figures.—Gould, ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. iv, pl. 
32; Dresser, ‘ Birds of Europe,’ vol. vi, pl. 407; Lilford, 
‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. vii, pl. 18; Booth, ‘ Rough Notes,’ 
vol. ii, pl. 16. 
This curious bird, though not sufficiently regular and 
widespread to be included among our annual British 
migrants, is nevertheless observed in some districts practi- 
cally every spring, sometimes appearing even in small flocks. 
East Anglia is its chief resort, especially along the Norfolk 
coast. From statistics furnished by Mr. J. H. Gurney, we 
find that for twelve summers, dating back from 1900, ninety- 
three Spoonbills visited Breydon (Norf. Nat. Hist. Soc., 
vol. vi.). In the‘ Zoologist’ for 1900, p. 415, Mr. A. Patterson 
writes that sixteen were seen on May 138th, 1894; twelve 
on May 5th, 1895; six on May 10th, 1899; twelve on June 
4th, 1900, and subsequently several others; while on p. 328 
he states that one was seen on June 7th, and two on June 
9th, 1900. Then again, in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1901, p. 269, 
the same writer publishes a most interesting note, in which 
he shows that, between early April and June 21st, 1901, 
Spoonbills were seen almost daily at Breydon. The details 
of his cbservations are as follows :— 
During April:—One seen on the 10th, twelve on the 
27th, and five on the 28th. 
During May :—Seven seen on the 7th, two on the 16th, 
two on the 17th. 
During June :—T'wo seen on the 2nd, four on the 7th, five 
on the 15th, and four on the 21st. Many of these birds were 
very tame, allowing of near approach. It is obvious, from 
these valuable data, that this species is still a frequent spring 
visitor to the neighbourhood of Great Yarmouth. 
North of Yorkshire (a county which has yielded some 
nine specimens), the Spoonbill is of rare occurrence, and 
