THE SPOONBILL 141 
The use of this very remarkable beak is apparent 
when the bird is seen feeding ; it is held low down 
on the surface of the water, and pushed along, like 
a shrimper’s net, in front of the bird, so as to 
collect the minute organisms which constitute its 
food. I have also seen this beak driven deep down, 
and brought to the surface bearing long strings of 
grass and other water weeds. In February 1909, 
when walking along the front at Luxor,—with its 
hotels and shops, crowds of people and noisy 
donkey-boys,—I was startled by quite a big flock of 
Spoonbills that were beaten down low by a strong 
wind. ‘They passed so close over my head that I 
saw their big flat beaks and long extended necks 
quite plainly : as they got farther away their general 
likeness to Swans in flight was most striking. 
Like all birds showing any marked peculiarity 
in the shape or size of the beak, the Spoonbill 
wears a somewhat melancholy air, and my readers 
will doubtless recall this appearance in the case of 
Herons and Storks, Pelicans and Cormorants. 
Time was when the Spoonbill was once common 
in Great Britain ; this is now, unhappily, no longer 
the case, but no farther away than Holland it still 
lives and breeds. 
