SPOONBILLS 



(183) Ajaia ajaja 



{L'uin.) (A burbaric South American name). 



ROSEATE SPOONBILL. Bill 

 long, flat and widened toward the 

 end. Ads. — Naked head and bill 

 varied with green, yellow and black- 

 ish. Legs carmine. Plumage as 

 shown; lesser wing coverts, base of 

 tail and slightly lengthened feathers 

 on nape and breast, bright carmine. 

 Im. — Similar to adult but top and 

 sides of head featliered and with no 

 bright carmine in the plumage. L., 

 32.00; W., 15.50; T., 4.50; Tar., 4.00; 

 Tibia, 3.00; B., 7.00, about 2.00 across 

 the spoon. Nest — Of sticks in man- 

 groves; three to five white eggs, 

 blotched with brown, 2.50x1.70. 



Range — From Ga., La. and Texas, 

 southward. Accidental in Cal., Wis. 

 and Kan. 



marl to make a hollowed mound about sixteen inches high. 

 A single, white, chalky egg comprises the set. They sit 

 upon this with the legs folded beneath them and not strad- 

 dling the nest as sometimes pictured. In flight, the neck is 

 carried fully extended, while the legs trail behind. 



Order HERODIONES. Herons, Storks, Ibises, Etc. 

 Family PLATALEID.*;. Spoonbills 



ROSEATE SPOONBILLS are our only representative of 

 the five or six species distributed over the tropical portions of 

 the world. In form, spoonbills are very similar to herons 

 but their bills are very flat and much widened toward the 

 end. They formerly were quite abundant, but their numbers 

 have been greatly reduced by plume hunters, as is the 

 case with most other herons in the Southern States. How- 

 ever, they are to-day not uncommon in Florida and Texas. 



They usually travel in small flocks of six to a dozen, 



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