164 BIRDS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 



FAM. TANTALIDyE. 



SPOONBILLS. 



PLAT A LEA AJAJA. Linn. 

 Spoonbill. 



Adult Male. — Bill spoon-shaped, flat and thin; above, rosy red, 

 whitening towards the neck ; lesser wing-coverts, crimson ; under 

 parts, pink, whitening on the belly; head, bare, of a greenish color, 

 showing a dark stripe at the base of the skull ; tail, orange-brown ; 

 legs, pink ; feet, black, with touches of pink; iris, red; young birds 

 are grayish white. 



Length 26.50, wing 14, tail 5, tarsus 3.50, bill 5.75. 



This curious and beautiful species is abundant at Inagua, fre- 

 cjuenting the large inland salt lakes which abound on that island. 

 They are very shy, and their breeding-places exceedingly difficult to 

 get at. They arc considered excellent eating by the negroes. I had 

 several cooked, and found them quite good, the flesh having a 

 peculiar but not unpleasant flavor. I was told by an old negro, 

 who claimed to have penetrated some distance into the unexplored 

 portions of Inagua, that the Spoonbill was very abundant and tame 

 in some of the small ponds in the interior of the island. The inhab- 



