PLATALEIDA. 393 
THE SPOONBILL. 
PLATALEA LEuCORODIA, Linnzus. 
Prof. Newton has shown (Tr. Norfolk Soc. 1896, p. 158) that in 
the time of Edward I. (1300) the Spoonbill was known, under the 
name of “ Popeler,” to breed in Norfolk; while up to the days of 
Willughby and Sir Thomas Browne it used to nest on trees—in 
company with Herons—in that county and Suffolk. Mr. Harting 
has drawn attention to breeding-places near Goodwood in Sussex, 
and at Fulham in Middlesex (Zool. 1877, p. 425; 1886, p. 81) 
in the sixteenth century, when its usual name was “Shoveler,” or 
“Shovelard” ; and Owen, in 1602, describes it as nesting on high 
trees in Pembrokeshire. Even now the bird frequently visits East 
Anglia, and is found from time to time along the south coast, 
especially in Cornwall; -while occasionally it wanders up the 
Thames valley. In Pembrokeshire and on the flats of Cardigan Bay 
it is often seen, though on the west side it is rare. Nine specimens 
have been recorded from Yorkshire, but northward it is of rare 
occurrence ; stragglers have, however, been obtained in the Inner 
