142 IBIDIN.E. PLATALEA. 
the second and third longest ; tail short, eyen, of twelve 
broad feathers. 
In structure these birds are intermediate between the 
Herons and Curlews, and intimately allied to the Ibises. 
They belong to the warm climates of both continents, some 
migrating northward. 
230. Platalea Leucorodia. White Spoonbill. 
Adult with a large occipital crest of linear feathers, the 
loral spaces and throat bare, the bill black, variegated with 
grey or dull yellow, a large portion of the expanded part of 
the upper mandible yellow, the plumage white, the crest ting- 
ed with yellow, the lower part of the neck and a portion of 
the breast buff-coloured. Young crestless, with the bill darker, 
the plumage white, without yellow on the neck, and with the 
shafts of the quills and the tips of the primaries and their j 
coverts black. 
Male, 32, . ., 15^, 8^-, 5 ^%, 3, i%. 
Extensively distributed over the temperate and warmer 
parts of Europe, and said to be especially abundant in Hoi- j 
land, where it is migratory. It nestles on trees or bushes, or 
among the reeds near the edges of small lakes. The eggs 
are two or three, white, with faint red spots. Of rare and 
irregular occurrence in the south of England. 
Plataleg Leucorodia, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 231. — Platalea Leu- 
corodia, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 667. — Platalea Leucorodia, 
Temm. Man. d’Ornith. ii. 595. — Platalea Leucorodia, White 
Spoonbill, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 
The series of "Waders here ends, and that of Swimmers j 
commences. Among the former we have seen some birds 
that never or seldom wade, and others that swim with ease ; 
but among the latter we find none that are not addicted to 
swimming. Some reside almost constantly in the water, 
others seldom alight upon it ; some dive, others plunge from 
on wing, and many swim but never dive. The series is 
extremely interesting, and as the species are comparatively 
few, and yet their forms and habits very diversified, their 
study is more calculated to lead to clear views of classifica- 
tion than that of the much more numerous land birds. Yet, 
