io8 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
BLACK-BILLED SPOONBILL 
Spatherodia regia 
We have, in Australia, two kinds of Spoonbill, or 
" Spoonbill Crane," as they are sometimes called. 
Both are of pure white plumage, and both have long 
bills which, narrow in the middle, widen out into a 
spoon-shaped end. In the present species the bill is 
black ; in the other it is dull yellowish. The Black- 
billed Spoonbill is a rare bird with us, but there are 
well-established records of its occurrence. In the 
Melbourne Museum there is a male bird obtained 
in i860, and a pair, male and female, shot in June, 
1872, all marked as from Geelong, which probably 
means the Connewarre Lakes, Mr. Mulder told me, 
in 191 1, that one of his sons had not long before 
seen a good-sized flock quite close to him on the 
Lakes. The bird breeds in the interior of the 
Continent. 
YELLOW-BILLED SPOONBILL 
Platibis flavipes 
This is the larger and more common Spoonbill, to be 
distinguished by its yellowish bill and legs, as well 
as by its size. I find that the Lake market-shooters 
know the bird, which they class, with several other 
species, under the heading of " White Cranes " ; but 
it is at best an occasional visitor so far south. In the 
