106 
ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 
It is usually found in the company of different Herons, whose vigilance apprises 
it of any danger. It can usually be approached, when feeding, with proper care. 
When one is wounded in the wing it usually makes for deep water, and swims for 
some distance without attempting to dive. If the wing is uninjured, this bird, even 
though mortally wounded, will fly until it drops dead. It is as nocturnal as the Night 
Herou, and its principal feeding-time is from near sunset until daylight. In procur- 
ing its food the Spoonbill usually wades up to the tibia 1 , immerses its bill in the soft 
mud, with the head, and even the whole neck, beneath the surface, moving its par- 
tially opened mandibles to and fro laterally, munching the small fry — insects or 
shell-fish — before it swallows them. Where many are together, one usually acts as 
a sentinel. He did not see it feeding in fresh water, though he was told that it does 
so occasionally. 
It can alight on a tree and walk on the large branches with all the facility of a 
Heron. Its eggs are usually three, and laid about the middle of April, in which his 
experience differs from that of Dr. Bryant. It builds on the tops of mangroves, 
placing each nest within a few yards of others. These are formed of sticks of con- 
siderable size, and are fiat. The eggs are described as measuring 2.63 inches in length 
by 1.87 in breadth, slightly granulated, equally rounded at both ends, and of a pure 
white color — evidently the egg of the Brown Pelican, and not corresponding with 
any egg I have ever seen belonging to this species. 
An identified egg in the Smithsonian Collection, obtained by Mr. Edwards in South 
America, measures 2.60 inches in length by 1.65 inches in breadth. The ground color 
is a dirty white, marked with small scattering spots of sepia-broAvn. Tavo eggs in 
my own collection (No. 69 and No. 71), from the Amazon River, and collected, one' 
by Mr. John E. Warren, the other by Mr. William H. Edwards, are, as described by 
Dr. Bryant, of an oblong oval shape, with one end much more tapering than the 
other. Their ground-color is a dull creamy Avliite, and they are marked Avitli scatter- 
ing blotches, “69” of dark sepia, “71” of sepia intermingled Avitli fainter blotches 
of dilute sepia, having a purplish tinge. These measure, one 2.55 by 1.70 inches, 
the other 2.43 by 1.71 inches. 
Three eggs in the Smithsonian Collection (No. 17045), collected in Southern Flor- 
ida by Professor J. W. P. Jenks, measure respectively 2.65 by 1.80 inches ; 2.80 by 
1.70 inches; and 2.55 by 1.80 inches. Their ground-color, as in all other cases, is a 
dull chalky Avhite ; the markings are rather sparse, chiefly about the larger end, of 
different shades of amber-brown. This egg may ahvays be distinguished from that 
of the White Ibis by its larger size, more rounded smaller ends, and the total absence 
of green tint in the ground-color. Another egg, No. 17044, given by Captain Bendire, 
is undistinguishable from No. 17045, measuring 2.65 by 1.80 inches. 
