230 



PLATALEjE. 



It has been stated that the Eastern race of the Common Spoonbill 

 has a longer culmen than the Western race, and ought therefore to 

 be regarded as subspecificaUy distinct (Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1889, 

 p. 41). I have been unable to find the slightest evidence of the 

 truth of this statement. The extreme length of bill attained by old 

 birds seems to be 9 inches, and this appears to be the case through- 

 out the range of the species from Spain to Japan. It is true that 

 Hume states (Stray Feathers, i. p. 256) that in Scinde and the 

 Punjab they sometimes attain a length of 9*7 inches ; but as no 

 example in the Hume collection measures more than 9 inches, it is 

 probable that this is a misprint for 9"1 inches. If it be not a printer's 

 error, it only proves that there may be a large-billed race of the 



Side of head and throat of Flatalea leucorodia. f natural size. 



Common Spoonbill which is a resident in the Oriental Eegion, 

 perhaps only in the western half of the Oriental Region, and it still 

 leaves the Japanese Spoonbills absolutely indistinguishable from those 

 of Holland. 



The alleged difference in the extent of the bare space on the throat 

 between Eastern and Western examples does not appear to have any 

 geographical significance, but to be due either to individual varia- 

 tions or to difference of age. 



