THE SPOONBILL. 38a 
voice of the Bittern varies with the season of the year. Usually itis a sharp 
harsh cry uttered on rising, 
but in the breeding season 
the bird utters a loud boom- 
ing cry that can be heard at 
a great distance. 
The general colour of this 
fine bird is rich brownish 
buff covered with irregular 
streaks and mottlings of 
black, dark brown, grey and 
chestnut. The top of the 
head is black with a gloss of 
bronze, the cheeks are buff, 
and the chin white tinged 
with buff. Down the front 
of the neck the feathers are 
marked with bold _lon- 
gitudinal dashes of black- 
ish and reddish brown, and 
the feathers of the breast 
are dark brown broadly 
edged with buff. The under 
surface of the body is buff 
streaked with brown, the 
beak is greenish yellow, and 
the feet and legs are green. 
BITTERN.—(Botaurus stellaris.) 
In total length the Bittern measures about thirty inches. 
THE well-known SPOONBILL affords an instance of the endless variety 
of forms assumed by the beak. 
It has a very wide range of country, 
being spread over the greater part of 
Europe and Asia, and inhabiting a por- 
tion of Africa. This species is one of 
the Waders, frequenting the waters, and 
obtaining a subsistence from the hsh, 
reptiles, and smaller aquatic inhabitants, 
which it captures in the broad spoon- 
like extremity of its beak. It is also 
fond of frequenting the sea-shore, 
where it finds a bountiful supply of 
food along the edge of the waves and 
in the little pools that are left by the 
retiring waters, where shrimps, crabs, | 
sand-hoppers, and similar animals are 
crowded closely together as the water | 
sinks through the sand. The bird also 
eats some vegetable substances, such 
as the roots of aquatic herbage, and 
when in confinement will feed upon 
almost any kind of animal or vege- 
table matter, providing it be soft and 
moist. The beak of an adult Spoon- 
bill is about eight inches in length, very 
much flattened. and is channelled and 
THE WHITE SPOONBILL, 
( "latalea leucorodia.) 
grooved at the base. In some countries the beak is taken from the bird, 
