WADING BIRDS 91 



favorite nesting grounds. Scraping together a quantity of 

 the wet earth until there is an elevation of from six to 

 twelve inches, it is slightly hollowed at the top, but not lined. 

 While incubating her single egg, the female folds the legs 

 under the sides, as do other long-legged birds, thus dis- 

 pelling the popular behef that the flamingo sits astride her 

 nest. 



The long, white or pale greenish-white eggs have the 

 surface so thickh' coated with soft lime that the chalky sub- 

 stance is left on the hand when handling specimens. 



Occasionally these birds in their wanderings touch the 

 extreme southern coast of Florida, but they do not breed on 

 that peninsula. 



ROSEATE SPOONBILL 



These beautiful aquatic birds are found both on the coast 

 and in the interior. Of the half-dozen varieties of spoon- 

 bills, the Roseate Spoonbill is the only form inhabiting 

 North America. Their range is becoming more restricted 

 yearly. Years ago the species occurred in southern Illinois 

 and Indiana. About the only section of the United States 

 where this bird is now found in any numbers is along the 

 gulf coast of Texas, ranging from there southward into 

 South America. The principal cause for the extinction of 

 this species in most of its former range is beauty, the same 

 cause that led to the fate of the snowy herons, slaughtered 

 for the " aigrettes." 



Like our large herons, they are gregarious, but their 

 mode of feeding is entirely different from that of our other 

 American birds, except the avocet. They feed by swinging 



