326 THE BIRDS OF SUSSEX. 



PLATALEID^. 



WHITE SPOONBILL. 



Plata! ea leticorodia. 



The appearance of the Spoonbill in Sussex is merely as a 

 somewhat rare straggler, but that it formerly bred in the 

 county is shown by Mr. J. E. Harting, who quotes the 

 following somewhat quaint extract from a MS. Survey of 

 certain Manors in Sussex : — '^ ' M.^ that within half 



a furlonge of Halnaker parke pale, on the west side thereof, 

 lyeth a parke called Goodwoode Parke ; and by the northest 

 parte thereof lyeth one other parke called Shelhurste Parke, 

 distaunt from Halnaker pale one quarter of a myle. And 

 on the north side of that pale lyeth one other parke called 

 Estden, halfe a myle dystante. In the woods called the 

 Weestwood and the Haselette Shovelers and Herons have 

 lately breed, and some Shovelers breed there this yeere '*:{«* 

 '' That the species referred to in this Survey is the Spoonbill 

 {Platalea leucorodia) and not the Shoveller Duck [Anas 

 clypeata) seems clear for several reasons. In the first place, 

 ' Shoveller,' ' Shoveler,' ' Shovelard,'' and ' Sholarde ' are so 

 many forms of spelling the old name for that species, as 

 clearly identified by Sir Thomas Browne. In the second 

 place, the birds in question were nesting ' in a Avood,^ where 

 the Shoveller Duck would not be found at any season. And, 

 further, they were breeding in company with Herons, a habit 

 not uncommon with the Spoonbill, as formerly observed in 

 Norfolk, and elsewhere ^^ ('Zoologist,^ pp. 426-428, s.s.). 



The nearest breeding place to the British Isles is now 

 Horster Meer, between Amsterdam and Utrecht, which my 



