. darker towards the tip (the reverse of what is seen in old birds), was in both very soft and weak,
Eo oe i bird being the darker of the two ; the chin and lores of both completely bare, the former
a a oe TSE a greyish colour. The tongue was remarkably small, being not more than an
ebin part of the length of bill. There was no Te of any crest on either bird, nor could any trace
Baie slour be observed. I was scarcely able to decide the true colour of the eye, as the birds, when I saw
them, had been dead more than forty-eight hours ; but from appearances I should say the irides were hazel,
and the pupils déack. The upper surface of the plumage was one a darker on be back and scapularies ;
the under surface purer white. The first four quills were white, with dono tips; and all had black
shafts, presenting a very curious and pretty appearance when ae

«As you are writing about the Spoonbill,” says Mr. Selater, vou will be interested to heat that, when I
last went to Holland, I paid a visit to one of the few breeding-places of the bird which are still left in that
country. At the date of my visit, May the 29th, 1867, the Spoonbills had not commenced building ; but
I traversed the ground where their nests are generally placed, and nea acquainted with the locality,
so that I hope to be more successful in inspecting the actual process OL nidification at a futute Gane: I left
Amsterdam, in company with a Dutch acquaintance, early in the morning, and went by train to Nieuwerkerk,
a small station on the Utrecht line; thence we proceeded to the Nieuwerkerker Platt, a large piece of water
in the neighbourhood, and took a boat, which conveyed us to some marshy islands situated in the further
part of the lake. These islands are covered with dense beds of reeds, the favourite haunts of the Thrush-
like Warbler (Calamodyta turdoides), which, at this period of the year, were singing vigorously all the day
long. These reeds are varied by clumps of stunted willows, which were tenanted by a breeding-colony
of the common grey Heron. The whole surface of the islands was about a foot deep in water at the time
of our visit; a little later in the year we were told the water would be lower, and the Spoonbills would
make their nests in the reeds. On approaching the willows, we found them occupied by a large flock
of these snow-white birds, which rose speedily in the air, and flew round over the lake. There were
between sixty and seventy of them, a curious spectacle within hearing of a railway train and within sight
of the chimneys of Amsterdam. But as operations have already been commenced with the view of draining
the Nieuwerkerker Platt, it will not be long before one of the few remaining places of refuge of the
Spoonbill in Holland will have ceased to exist.”

Besides being dispersed over the marshy districts of Europe, Dr. Jerdon informs us that the Spoonbill
is very generally, but not abundantly, diffused all over the Indian peninsula, ‘ frequenting rivers, lakes, and
tanks. It is generally met with in small parties, but occasionally in rather large flocks, feeds in shallow
water, moving its bill about from side to side, and picking up various aquatic insects and larvee, small
crustacea and mollusks.”

Mr. Hewitson informs us that the Spoonbill « builds its nest upon the tops of the highest trees, and upon
the ground. When built on trees, it is composed of sticks, lined with fner materials ; when upon the ground,
surrounded as it always is by swamp and water, it is formed of large masses of reeds, rushes, and tufts of
grass, to raise it above the influence of the wet. The bird breeds in the month of May, and lays three or
four eggs,” which are chalky white, sparingly blotched with rufous and dark brown, the red spots being
sometimes, though rarely, absent; they are 2 inches 5 lines long, by 1 inch 8 lines broad.

“The Spoonbill,” says Yarrell, « possesses a peculiarity of internal structure much too interesting to be
passed over. This bird is one of the few which has been found to possess no true muscles of the organ of
voice ; and no modulation of a single tone appears to be possessed by it.” On comparing the figure-of-8-like
convolutions of its singular windpipe with the organs of voice in other birds, “it will be seen that no
particular ossification at the Junction of the bronchi with the bottom of the tube of the trachea exists,
nor any muscles by which variations in the length of the trachea or the bronchi can be effected.”
After quoting some instances in which this structure was not found in young birds, Mr. Yarrell adds :—

“As this formation is known to exist in old females as well as in old males, I am induced to suppose that,
like the occipital crest, neither sex obtain it till they have acquired a cert

ain degree of maturity.”
General plumage white, with a w

aka ash of brimstone-yellow on the crest, feathers, and across the breast;
il black, exeept : 1 re it is ; 1 1
| ack, ept at the tip, where it is orange-yellow ; skin under the tongue and naked skin of the throat
deep yellow; irides red; legs, toes, and interdigital membrane black.

The female is similar in colour, but somewh

at smaller in size, and has the crest less developed.
In the very young

state the birds are clothed with a greyish-white down ; the bill, orbits, throat, legs, and

vgn ae and the inides ash-colour. After the first moult the shafts and ends of the primaries are
lied ; Gitne IS no indication of a crest; and the bill is of a much lighter colour than in the adult.
The Plate represents an adult male

and three nestlj i Pane : ;
latter the size of life) with a reduced fiour ae oS he foreground (the former about half, and the
é uced figure of a female in the distance. .