WHITE SPOONBILL. 161 



all the produce of marine and aquatic life which oc- 

 curs in pools left by the tide, or is formed by fresh 

 waters. The form and structure of the bill would, 

 however, lead us to believe, that if their manner of 

 feeding was strictly observed, it would be found 

 adapted to a peculiar kind of food, abundant in the 

 places which they frequent. In confinement it is 

 various, and nothing seems to come far amiss. 

 Young birds we have seen fed on bread and milk, 

 and also with fish, which they eat with great avidity. 

 The plumage of the adult Spoonbill is entirely pure 

 white, with the exception of a band of a rich buff 

 colour, placed on each side of the lower parts of the 

 neck, and which shades off to pure white on the fore 

 part of the breast, scarcely however meeting. The 

 head is adorned with a very ample crest of long 

 broad feathers, hanging half way down the neck, 

 and capable of being erected at pleasure ; the bill is 

 Hack, yellow towards the tip, and very rugous above; 

 the legs and feet are also black. The female is 

 described as having a small crest. In the young 

 the head is not crested, and the buff-coloured band 

 is not present. In young birds which we saw in 

 Holland, fully feathered, but not long from the nest, 

 the plumage above was dusky, from a dull or dark 

 stripe passing along the centre of each feather ; and 

 the bill, with the bare skin of the face, was of a 

 grey or lead colour, the former quite soft, and tinted 

 on the edges of the gape with pink. 



