c. 



PLATALEA LEUCORODTA. (Linn. 

 Spoonbill, 



The Spoonbill, though pretty plentiful on many parts of 

 the Continent, is especially so in Holland, where it breeds, 

 choosing, like the Heron, the tops of high trees for the position 

 of its nest ; and like it, when its favourite situation is not to be 

 met with, building it amongst the reeds and rushes of the 

 marshes, which it frequents. Its eggs, which are from two 

 to four in number, are most commonly marked with red, 

 as represented in the Plate, but are sometimes of a spotless 

 white. 



Up to the present period in the progress of this work, the 

 notices which accompany the drawings of each egg, how- 

 ever vague or uninteresting some of them may be, are the 

 result (with a very few exceptions) either of personal and oft 

 repeated observation, or are derived from the unquestionable 

 authority of my friends and correspondents. 



From the comencement of the work the eggs with which I 

 was most intimately acquainted have been first figured, leaving 

 to the last those of rare occurrence, about which little that 

 could be depended upon was known, in the hope that ere it 

 became necessary to draw them, some additional information 

 might be gained : these must now be figured in their turn, 

 and, however unsatisfactory the descriptions accompanying 

 some of them may be to others, they will prove so to none 

 more than to myself; many of these will be given with hesi- 

 tation and a want of confidence, and should additional light 

 be thrown upon the history of any, now doubtful, before the 

 conclusion of the work, it shall then be added. 



F 



