

iS a. 
10 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
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Spoonbills feed on ferpents, frogs, worms, wa- 
ter infects, and fifh, and even fifh that have thells 
to bruife and break them there are in the infide ¢ 
both mandibles little rough knobs. 
Spoonbills inhabit the borders of the fea. They 
are found on the coafts*of France and Holland, 
There are great numbers in the marfhes of Seven- 
huis, near Leyden, in Holland, and in ‘fummer 
they are found from the Ferroe Iflands to the 
Cape of Good Hope. There they deftroy a great 
number of frogs and toads and ferpents, and are 
as much efteemed as the Ibis is in Egypt ; and for 
~ the fame reafon, the Spoonbills are fuffered to run 
tamely about their houfes, and are never killed, 
They build their nefts on the tops of high trees) 
near the fea fide; the nefts are made of Jittle 
flicks ; they lay three eggs, and are very noify 
when breeding. ‘They ‘oe regularly every 
evening, ad perch upon the trees and rooft there. 
The gullet of the Spoonbill becomes larger to- 
_ wards the bottom; it is there, perhaps, that the 
fhell-fith remain, until their fefh be feparated and 
digefted by the warmth; then it throws out the 
broken fhells. 
_ Sometimes Spoonbills will purfue other birds, 
and take from them the fith which they have 
caught; like the Bald Eagles, the Man of War 
2 Birds, 


