24 
BRITISH BIRDS- 
OF THE SPOONBILL. 
The bill is broad, long, flat, and thin, the end 
widening into a roundifh form not unlike a fpoon ^ 
the noflrils fmall, and placed near the bafe ; the 
tongue fmall and pointed, and the feet femi-pal- 
mated. 
This genus confifts of only three known fpecies, 
and three varieties, and thefe are thinly difperfed 
over various parts of the globe. Their common 
refidence is on the fea-fliores, or the contiguous 
fenny fwamps which are occafionally overflowed 
by the tide, or on fuch low marfhy coafts as are 
conflantly covered with flagnant pools of water. 
Thefe places they very feldom quit, but they fome- 
times are feen by the fides of lakes or rivers in the 
interior parts of the country. They feed on various 
kinds of little fiihes, and fmall fhell-fifh, which they 
fwallow whole, alfo on worms, infects, frogs, and 
the various other inhabitants of the flimy pools, 
through which they wade, and fearch the mud with 
their curioufly conflrudled bills; and fometimes 
they eat the weeds, graffes, and roots which grow 
in thofe boggy places. 
