66 SPOON-BILL, CRANE. HERON. 



D I V. II. W A T E R - F O W L. 



441. 'T*^ ^ ^^^ Spoon-Bill may be made thefe additions : — They are found 



JL in vaft flocks on the borders of the river Taik, about Kalmin- 

 jowa, where they refort to feed on the frefli-water mufTels. When 

 they are drfturbed, they rife high into the air, and afiume an oblique and 

 winding form, which no noife can difcompofe or break. Their plu- 

 mage, elpecially in their flight, exhibits a mofl dazzling whitenefs. I 

 do not trace them farther fouth than Aleppo, which is one of their 

 "winter retreats. 



Notwithftanding their fifliy food, they were formerly efteemed a 

 delicacy. A grove at Sevenhuys, near Ley den, was, in the middle of 

 the lafl: century, one of their breeding-places ; and was rented from 

 the lord of the foil, by a perfon who made a profit of their young. 

 But when I was there, in 1765, I found that the grove had been 

 long cut down, and the birds quite driven away. They are never 

 feen in England, except by accident. 



44^' The Hooping Crane breeds in the north, in unfrequented places, 



near the fides of lakes ; and makes its neft on the ground with grafs 

 ■and feathers : lays two white eggs, and fits twenty days. The young 

 are firft yellow, and by degrees become white. They feed on infects 

 and worms, which they get from the bottoms of lliallow ponds. 



445* The Great White Heron is gregarious, and may be feen in 



Carolina, perched on trees, in flocks of thirty or more. 



44S- Red-eilled Heron, Latham, v. 93. — Catejby,'\. 77. — Le crabier a bec rouge, 



SLED-BILLED. de Buffon, vii. 401. 



H. With a red bill, two inches and three quarters long. Irides 

 yellow : legs green : plumage of a fnowy whitenefs. Length eighteen 

 inches. , 



Inhabits 



