The Roseate Spoonbill 
67 
The Roseate Spoonbill. 
(Ajaia ajaya) 
By W. Shore Baily. 
Hiose of our readers who have read that Httle book " The 
Home Life of a Spoonbill," and liave enjoyed the splendid 
photograplis contained therein, will harJiy consider these few- 
notes worthy of lluir attention, but our esteemed Editor is 
asking- for copy, and 1 think that it really is a little too much to 
expect from him, that, besides editing the magazine, he should 
provide the bulk of the reading matter as well. I hope that 
some of our members will take this hint, as there are many of- 
them 1 am sure who could entertain us with their reminiscences. 
The bird about which I am writing differs materially from 
our English Spoonbill. It is a native of Central and South 
America, and, 1 believe, it occasionally strays into the U.S.A., 
especially into the S.E. States; but I never met it on the Pacific 
side. The bird known on that coast as the Spoonbill is the 
Shoveller Duck. The adult male Spoonbill is very handsome, 
having the upper parts of the body and wings roseate-pink, with 
a patch of scarlet on neck and shoulders; tail buff; rest of the 
body \\hite. Young birds are at first creamy-white, with the 
shafts of the feathers pinkish. The English Spoonbill is snowy 
white, with a considerable crest of feathers at the back of the 
head; it is also a slightly larger bird. 
My " Spoony " is a young one, and when it came to me 
it was in a terribly dilapidated condition. In the first place its 
lower mandible was nearly an inch shorter than the upper one, 
and in the second place one of its wings had been broken close 
to the body, and, although the fracture was mended, the wing- 
drooped badly, and the undamaged wing also hung down in 
sympathy. The weather at the time it reached me was ver/ 
bad, and, as the bird's pinions dragged in the wet grass and 
mud whenever it was let out for exercise, they got frost bitten, 
and mortification soon set in. Amputation was the only 
remedy. The operation was most successful, and the bird 
quickly picked up in health, and the wings soon healed. Far 
from resenting my cruelty, the bird became extremely tame, and 
would soon follow me everywhere, taking Httle notice of my big 
retriever dog. I may mention here that one of the pinions, 
