THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 237.— September, 1896. 



SPOONBILLS AND STORKS IN HOLLAND. 

 By Reginald Lodge. 



On a recent visit to Holland, intent on photographing from 

 the life some of the marsh and water birds, which at one time 

 were so numerous in this country, until banished by drainage 

 and over-population, I was fortunate enough to obtain an intro- 

 duction to an eminent Dutch ornithologist, who was good enough 

 to pilot me himself to one of the very few remaining breeding- 

 places of the Spoonbill in Western Europe. 



It was a novel experience, and one I shall never forget, to 

 find myself at length, after sixteen hours' travelling, afloat in an 

 immense meer, being propelled through narrow channels cut in 

 the reeds, which towered over our heads, just wide enough for 

 the passage of the punt. The reeds on both sides appeared full 

 of Great Reed Warblers, their chattering song being almost con- 

 tinuous, though the birds were too skulking to be often seen, 

 and in our progress, during which we saw occasional Purple 

 Herons, Spoonbills, and Cormorants, we had constant oppor- 

 tunities of watching the graceful evolutions of the Black Terns, 

 which skimmed in swallow-like flight over the reeds. 



The Spoonbills, however, were the chief object of the expedi- 

 tion, and we did not tarry until we had reached the first small 

 colony. The birds had, we learned, been disturbed and were some- 

 what scattered, apparently not more than seven or eight nests 

 being together. At the time of our visit most of the nests 

 contained nearly full-grown young ones, some of which at our 



ZOOLOGIST, THIRD SERIES, VOL. XX. SEPT. 1896. 2 C 



