SPOONBILL. 127 



stretched out, and the whole body meanwhile turning from 

 left to right, and from right to left, the bird advancing pretty 

 quickly, and the mandibles being closed when taken out of 

 the water. They thus, to quote the comparison made use of 

 by some one who attempted a mathematical definition, 'concur 

 like parallel lines meeting in one common centre.' 



The food that they consume is of various kinds small 

 fish, reptiles, worms, leeches, shrimps, sandhoppers, tadpoles, 

 grasses, and the roots of plants, and on these they feed by 

 day, roosting at night. 



This species also makes a noise by rattling its bill. 



The nest is made in a tree, if one be situated conveniently 

 for the purpose, or else on the stump of a willow, among 

 rushes and weeds in water, or on the ground. It is put 

 together of sticks, twigs, and rushes, and lined, if at all, 

 with finer portions of the like; the former materials are made 

 use of if it be placed in a tree. Several nests are built 

 together, if trees for the purpose are in sufficient number. 



The eggs, laid in the month of May, are sometimes four, 

 but usually two or three in number. They are white, spotted 

 with pale reddish brown: some are without the red spots. 



The young, when hatched, remain in the nest until they 

 are able to fly, when they are led by their parents to the 

 nearest feeding ground, and are soon left to shift for themselves. 



Male; weight, about three pounds and a half; length, two 

 feet seven or eight inches; bill, black barred with lead-colour, 

 except near the point, where it is yellow, faintly tinged with 

 reddish; it is nearly seven inches long, rough at the base and 

 on the upper surface, being furrowed transversely. Iris, deep 

 carmine red; the bare parts about the head are yellow. The 

 flowing feathers of the head are sometimes raised a little, 

 and give the bird an elegant appearance; they are white in 

 colour, but in old birds become tinged with orange yellow; 

 the crown, neck, nape, chin, throat, and breast, are white, 

 except a band of feathers over the upper part of the last 

 named of a yellowish buff colour, which tint extends upwards 

 on each side in a narrow stripe to the top. 



The wings have the first quill feather not quite so long as 

 the fourth, the second and the third equal to each other, 

 and the longest in the wing, the fourth not quite so long. 

 Greater and lesser wing coverts, primaries, secondaries, tertiaries, 

 greater and lesser under wing coverts, tail, and upper and 

 under tail coverts, white. The legs, which are six inches 



