47 



Family PLATALEID^E. 



SPOONBILL. Platalea leucorodia (Linnaeus). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, 'Birds of Great Britain,' vol. iv, pi. 

 32 ; Dresser, ' Birds of Europe,' vol. vi, pi. 407 ; Lilford, 

 1 Coloured Figures,' vol. vii, pi. 18 ; Booth, * Bough Notes,' 

 vol. ii, pi. 16. 



This curious bird, though not sufficiently regular and 

 widespread to be included among our annual British 

 migrants, is nevertheless observed in some districts practi- 

 cally every spring, sometimes appearing even in small flocks. 

 East Anglia is its chief resort, especially along the Norfolk 

 coast. From statistics furnished by Mr. J. H. Gurney, we 

 find that for twelve summers, dating back from 1900, ninety- 

 three Spoonbills visited Breydon (Norf. Nat. Hist. Soc., 

 vol. vi.). In the ' Zoologist ' for 1900, p. 415, Mr. A. Patterson 

 writes that sixteen were seen on May 13th, 1894; twelve 

 on May 5th, 1895 ; six on May 10th, 1899 ; twelve on June 

 4th, 1900, and subsequently several others ; while on p. 323 

 he states that one was seen on June 7th, and two on June 

 9th, 1900. Then again, in the 'Zoologist' for 1901, p. 269, 

 the same writer publishes a most interesting note, in which 

 he shows that, between early April and June 21st, 1901, 

 Spoonbills were seen almost daily at Breydon. The details 

 of his observations are as follows : 



During April : One seen on the 10th, twelve on the 

 27th, and five on the 28th. 



During May : Seven seen on the 7th, two on the 16th, 

 two on the 17th. 



During June : Two seen on the 2nd, four on the 7th, five 

 on the 15th, and four on the 21st. Many of these birds were 

 very tame, allowing of near approach. It is obvious, from 

 these valuable data, that this species is still a frequent spring 

 visitor to the neighbourhood of Great Yarmouth. 



North of Yorkshire (a county which has yielded some 

 nine specimens), the Spoonbill 'is of rare occurrence, and 



