PLATALEA 583 



bill black marked with dull yellowish, the plate yellow, marked on the 

 upper part with black ; loral space yellowish ; bare gular space reddish 

 yellow ; legs and feet dusky blackish ; iris red. Culrnen 7'2, wing 15*0, 

 tail 5'0, tarsus 5*0, bare part of tibia 3*5 inch. Female similar but with 

 smaller crest. In the winter the crest is absent or nearly so. 



Hctb. Central and southern Europe, formerly breeding in 

 England, but now of rare occurrence in Britain and southern 

 Scandinavia ; has strayed to the Faeroes ; Madeira, Canaries, 

 and Azores ; Africa, on the east side south to Zanzibar, being 

 replaced in S. Africa by P. tenuirostris, Temm. ; Asia east to 

 China, north to southern Dauria ; a rare straggler to Japan, 

 where P. minor occurs in the extreme south. 



The Spoonbill affects marshy localities, especially near the 

 sea-coast, and is shy and wary in its general habits. Its flight 

 somewhat resembles that of the Stork, and its note is said to 

 be deep and Heron-like, but like the Stork it makes a clatter- 

 ing sound with its bill. Its food consists of amphibians, 

 aquatic insects, &c. It breeds in communities, placing its 

 nest on a tree or on a low bush, or else amongst the reeds. 

 The nest is constructed of twigs, sticks, and flags, lined with 

 small flags or rushes, and the eggs, 3 to 4 in number, are white, 

 with the faintest blue tinge when fresh, sparsely spotted and 

 blotched with pale red, and measure about 2'75 by 1*81. In 

 Europe the breeding season is usually in May, but in India it 

 varies from April to November according to latitude. 



813. BLACK-FACED SPOONBILL. 

 PLATALEA MINOR. 



Platalea minor, Temm. and Schlegel, Faun. Jap. Aves, p. 120, pi. 76 ; 

 Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxvi. p. 50 ; Seebohm, B. Jap. Emp. 

 p. 231. 



< ad. Differs from P. leucorodia in being smaller, in having the bare 

 forehead and bare portion to behind the eye and the upper throat black ; a 

 yellow spot in front of the eye ; feathers on the upper throat extending in 

 a point towards the chin. 



Hob. Corea ; Japan (near Nagasaki) ; China and Formosa. 



In habits it does not appear to differ from P. leucorodia, but 

 I find nothing on record respecting its nidification. 



