50 GRALLATORES. PLATALEA. SPOONBILL. 



GENUS PLATALEA. SPOONBILL. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill very long, broad, straight, thin, much flattened, di- 

 lated towards the tip, which is rounded and spoon-shaped. 

 Upper mandible sulcated, transversely furrowed and rugose ; 

 the tip bent downwards, and projecting beyond the lower. 

 Under mandible smooth, except at the base ; its suture dis- 

 tinct and well marked. Basal half of both mandibles inte- 

 riorly furnished with a double row of tubercles ; the anterior 

 half with fine longitudinal striae. Nostrils basal, egg-shaped, 

 open, bordered with a membrane, and placed in the line of 

 the furrows on the surface of the bih 1 . Tongue very short, 

 and blunt. Face and head partly, or entirely naked. 



Legs long ; feet four-toed ; three before and one behind ; 

 the front ones united by a membrane or web ; hind toe long, 

 articulated a little above the plane of the others, and resting, 

 for the greater part of its length, upon the ground. Tibiae 

 naked for one-half of their length above the tar sal joint. 

 Front and back part of the tarsus reticulated. Front of the 

 toes imperfectly scutellated. Claws short, straight, and 

 entire. 



Wings long, ample; the first quill a little shorter than 

 the second, which is the longest of all. 



In plumage, the neck clothed with short close-set feathers. 



IT O -' 



In habit and manner of life the Spoonbills approach very 

 near to other groups of Ardeadce. They form societies, inha- 

 biting estuaries, banks of rivers, and woody marshes, where 

 they find their food, viz. small fish, crustaceae, reptiles, and 

 aquatic insects. 



To obtain their prey they sometimes swim, which they are 

 enabled to do by the extensive development of the mem- 

 brane uniting the toes ; and which brings the present order 



