THE SPOONBILL. 15 



of his mate, and seemed as usual to be dreaming, but one 

 prod rather more vigorous than the rest recalled him to 

 the present and the needs of his family, and with a flapping 

 and gaping like that of his mate he prepared to deliver 

 what he had brought. The young, on seeing him 

 imitating the actions of their mother, were, for young 

 Spoonbills, highly dehghted, evidently knowing that 

 this was grace preceding meat. And sure enough, after 

 one or two sideway shakes of the head, he stooped down 

 and with a few vigorous gulps opened his bill, at the base 

 of which the chicks found much that was to their satis- 

 faction (Plate 10). The manner of feeding was quite 

 distinct from that of the cormorant-like birds, where 

 the young thrust their heads far down their parents' 

 distended gullets, for here the food was regurgitated into 

 the top of the throat and the trough at the base of the 

 lower mandible, whence the young could pick it out 

 without their heads entering the throat at all. 



It was with somewhat wistful feelings that we poled 

 our way out of the reeds that evening, and looking back 

 across the lagoon saw for the last time the great white 

 birds circling above their nursery (Plate 11). 



But before leaving them, lest through recording some 

 unusual incidents in their home-life, I may have given 

 a somewhat distorted idea of the true nature of these 

 birds, I hasten to add that, for silent dignity the Spoon- 

 bill stands out pre-eminent from all others we have met. 

 Whatever they do, even when clamouring excitedly 

 for their stolid mates to disgorge, there is nothing rough 

 or savage in their manner, but rather a tone of gentleness. 

 Never have I seen such silent birds, not even when their 

 colony is being raided do they raise a cry, but fly mutely 

 round and round with outstretched necks. True, to 

 be exact, their silence is more a necessity than a virtue, 

 since they are possessed of no true vocal organ, but it so 

 befits their other actions that it may well be laid to their 

 credit without too close examination. 



