Zoo Notes 11 
formed in the earth either by its own labour 
or by that of some digging mammal. At the 
bottom of its burrow the eggs are deposited 
on a bed of moss, grass or dry roots, and here 
the young remain during the downy period of 
their existence, occasionally advancing to the 
entrance, but retreating immediately on the 
approach of any suspicious object. Now that 
the specimens have been removed to a small 
cage Just large enough for them to turn round 
in, they are no longer attractive, and are passed 
by without being noticed. In their old quarters 
they drew quite a crowd. 
Wa 
THe White Spoonbill (Platelea leucorodia) 
is found over 
Spoonbill. the greater 
part of Europe 
and Asia and north of Africa, 
but is only a_ straggling 
visitor to England. It 
possesses no power of modu- 
SENS 
YPECAHA RAIL. 
visitor retires to his own 
ground and mate, to receive 
another visitor in exactly the 
same way.” 
D/O i ° é c 
Rama seu re sg lating its voice. The wind- 
. Se es Been re pipe is bent on itself, like 
We poet ar the figure 8, the coils applied 
Ypecaha groups, Land- 
Rk Reville gal 
Water-Rails, but the sunpler 
name 1s now generally applied 
to all birds which are in- 
cluded in the family Rallide. 
These birds also are very 
ceremonious in their habits, 
and the same writer, in his 
“Naturalist in la Plata” 
(Chap. XIX.), declares that “some of the rails 
join in festive dances that can only be likened 
to balls, the performers becoming excited 
almost to frenzy, and with loud cries and 
outstretched wings rushing from side to side 
for several minutes.” 
to each other, and held in 
place by a thin membrane. 
This peculiarity does not 
exist im young birds. On 
the Danube spoonbills nest 
in company with egrets and 
other herons. And _ the 
BURROWING OWL. 
via 
WHEN these pretty and active little owls 
(Speotito cumularia) were kept in 
the first cage of the Northern 
Aviary, with a plentiful supply of 
dry sand and shingle and a few drain-pipes laid 
in amongst it, some idea could be formed of the 
way they live in their native land, America. 
Wherever the species is found it dwells, at all ass 
events during the breeding season, in burrows COMMON SPOONBILL. 
Burrowing 
Owls. 
