ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORFOLK. 93 



allowed us to approach within about fifty yards, and we watched 

 them preening themselves and afterwards feeding — lovely birds — 

 standing while they did their toilet in some three inches of water. 

 One of them, Mr. Jary said, had only arrived a few hours, which 

 accounted for such elaborate ablutions ; the other he had known 

 to be on the Broad two days, having seen it at different times 

 since the afternoon of the 9th. Now and then the new arrival 

 stretched a wing high in air, or turned his head in very graceful 

 way, while the dorsal portion of the plumage was being dressed. 



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After a while they left the water in which they had been stand- 

 ing, and began to feed on a sand-bank, and once or twice I could 

 catch the sweeping action of the beak from side to side, which 

 has been compared to a man mowing. Jary said he had seen 

 the first Avocet take worms to the water's edge and apparently 

 wash them, but this they did not do while we were there. The 

 Spoonbills we did not get very near to, for when the punt was 

 still four hundred yards away a train put them up. Jary said 

 that one bird had a very fine crest, and was larger than the rest. 

 He was sure that four of them had only arrived that morning 



