106 ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 



It is usually found in the company of different Herons, whose vigilance apprises 

 it of any danger. It can usually be approached, when feeding, with proper care. 

 When one is wounded in the wing it usually makes for deep water, and swims for 

 some distance without attempting to dive. If the wing is uninjured, this bird, even 

 though mortally wounded, will fly until it drops dead. It is as nocturnal as the Night 

 Heron, and its principal feeding-time is from near sunset until daylight. In procur- 

 ing its food the Spoonbill usually wades up to the tibise, immerses its bill in the soft 

 mud, with the head, and even the whole neck, beneath the surface, moving its par- 

 tially opened mandibles to and fro laterally, munching the small fry — insects or 

 shell-fish — before it swallows them. Where many are together, one usually acts as 

 a sentinel. He did not see it feeding in fresh water, though he was told that it does 

 so occasionally. 



It can alight on a tree and walk on the large branches with all the facility of a 

 Heron. Its eggs are usually three, and laid about the middle of Aitril. in which his 

 experience differs from that of Dr. Bryant. It builds on the tops of mangroves, 

 placing each nest within a few yards of others. These are formed of sticks of con- 

 siderable size, and are flat. The eggs are described as measuring 2.63 inches in length 

 by 1.87 in breadth, slightly granulated, equ.ally rounded at both ends, and of a pure 

 white color — evidently the egg of the Brown Pelican, and not corresponding with 

 any egg I have ever seen belonging to this species. 



An identified egg in the Smithsonian Collection, obtained by Mr. Edwards in South 

 America, measures 2.60 inches in length by 1.65 inches in breadth. The ground color 

 is a dirty white, marked with small scattering spots of sepia-brown. Two eggs in 

 my own collection (Xo. 69 and No. 71), from the Amazon Eiver, and collected, one 

 by Mr. John E. Warren, the other by Mr. William H. Edwards, are, as described by 

 Dr. Bryant, of an oblong oval shape, with one end much more tapering than the 

 other. Their ground-color is a dull creamy white, and they are marked with scatter- 

 ing blotches, " 69 ■' of dark sepia, '■ 71 " of sepia intermingled with fainter blotches 

 of dilute sepia, having a purplish tinge. These measure, one 2.55 by 1.70 inches, 

 the other 2.4.3 by 1.71 inches. 



Three eggs in the Smithsonian Collection (Xo. 17U4.JJ, collected in Southern Flor- 

 ida by Professor J. AY. P. Jenks, measure respectively 2.65 by 1.80 inches ; 2.80 by 

 1.70 inches ; and 2.55 by l.SO inches. Their ground-color, as in all other cases, is a 

 dull chalky wliite ; the markings a,re rather sparse, chiefly about the larger end, of 

 different shades of amber-brown. This egg may always be distinguished from that 

 of the White Ibis by its larger size, more rounded smaller ends, and the total absence 

 of green tint in the ground-color. Another egg, Xo. 17041. given by Captain Beudire, 

 is undistinguishable from Xo. 17045. measuring 2.65 by l.SO inches. 



