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104 



ALTUICIAL (HIALLATUHKH — HEUUDIONKS. 



"Otht'i' lactn confirm me iti tliut oiiinion. A common SiMtonliill wan kupt tame liy a friend of 

 mine Mevcii ycut'x, at tiiu end of wiiii li time it died witliont liuvin^ auiiuiivd any of tiic diNtin- 

 ^'lUHJiing mufkn of /', iijuju. 



"I have dixHccted tbive exumplen of the latter H|)ccie», and olineiveil in them tjje ciiiionHly 

 formed tiiii'hea recently dewiilH'd |py Mr. (iiirmd.' I have nIiciI |perliiiiH a liuucintl -"ixMimenH 

 of the connnon liird, for tiiey are extremely almndant with n^. Of tiiene I have ojiemil aliont 

 thirty, hut in nonu of th.em did I liml thix form of trachea. 1 am therefore convinced that 

 we have two di>>iinil Hpeciex of KoHe-coluri'd S|)oonViill, iidialiitin^' dilferent portionH of the 

 continent." 



Tlie KoHt'iito S|t()(iiil»ill has a wide distriiiiition. iicciirring in fiivomblo localities 

 throii^'lioiit Smitli Aiiu'rica, ('ciitnil Aiiu-rica, Mexico, ami the (Julf KcKioii ol tlie 

 United States, from l-'lorida to the Mexican (lepartnients. StraKRlers have heeii ob- 

 served even as far south as tiie Falkhmd Ishinds. Captain V,. C. Al)l)ott states that 

 a specimen of the Sjioonhill was shot in a pond near Kidney Cove, in the Kalkhind 

 IslundH, in •Inly. iSflO; and lie also found the remains of another in Wlialehone Kay, 

 in the same year. Dr. ISurmeister sjieaks of this species as every wiiere present in 

 tile La Plata Ke),'ion, tlirou},'lioiit m-arly tlie whole of which it was found frei[iieiiting 

 the reeds, on the shores of streams and la^fKni. . He always found it solitary, and 

 never noticed it in flocks. Mr. C. liarrinnton IJrown mentions lindiii^,' it common in 

 the inlets of tln^ Cotinga Iviver, in British (iiiiana. Mr. Salvin notices the pro- 

 eurinj,' of a single indivi(hial of this species in Guatemala. It had been shot by an 

 Indian on the borders of Lake Diienas. Mr. Salvin afterward mentions having met 

 with it occasionally on the Pacific coast of (Jiiatemala, wlieris not unfrccpieiitly, a 

 small Hock woidd tly across the creek, seldom witiiin shot, but often m-ar enough 

 to show their brilliant oolors. This species has not. that I am aware, been recorded 

 on the Pacific coast north of Mazuthm; but it is found in several of the West India 

 Islands, and according to J)r. (Jundlach it breeils in ('uba. It was not met with liy 

 Mr. Gosse in Jamaica, but is given by Mr. Richard Hill as a resident (tf that island; 

 Mr. March, however, regards it as being of very rare occurri'iu^e there. It is given 

 by Leotaud as an occasional visitant to Trinidad, the l)irds seen there being always 

 in their imnuiture plumage. These visitants usually arrive about the end of .June, 

 and leave in the month of October. It is abumlant in Southwestern Texas and 

 along the (Julf coast of Mexico. Mr. Dresser speaks of it as common near .Mata- 

 moras during the summer, and he never visited the lagoon near the town without 

 seeing several. On his j(mriu'y to San Antonio, in Sei»tend)er, lie saw a luimber at 

 different places near the coast ; and in .lune, 1(S()4, he saw two or three on Galveston 

 Island, wliere it is known under the name of " Klamingr)." lie was informed that, 

 in former years, it had been known to breed on the island, but that it does so uo 

 longer, having been too nuich disturbed. He received a specimen in a eolle(;tion 

 from Fort Stockton, where it was obtained on the .'{d of August. ( )ceasionally this 

 species wanders up the creeks and rivers flowing into the Gulf, and a specinu'u was 

 taken as high u)) on the 31ississippi as Natchez. This was the locality of Wilson's 

 type of the species. That author, luiwever, regarded this bird as rare in Florida, 

 while Nuttall thought it common in Jamaica; both these statements have, however, 

 proved to be incorrect. Nuttall records a straggler as having been taken on the 

 banks of the Delaware River ; but there is no recent record of such an occurrence. 



According to Dr. Berlaudier (unpublished MSS.), the Roseate Spoonbill inhabits 

 almost all the eastern coast of Mexico. It is in winter quite common about the 

 lakes of Tampico, Tamiagua, the shores of I'anonco, etc., advancing in the summer 



1 I'. Z. S. 1875, p. 297. 



