Lost British Birds . 
7 
the bird continued to breed a few years longer in England— 
perhaps to the end of the seventeenth century. 
It is possible that some readers of this paper, who are un¬ 
acquainted with ornithological literature, will be surprised 
to learn that the spoonbill—this beautiful bird of an un¬ 
familiar and exotic appearance—was ever a veritable member 
of the British fauna ; and it is true that, with the exception 
of the passage quoted, no mention is made of the spoonbill by 
any of the old English writers whose works have come down 
to us. Some naturalists have even expressed the belief that 
