Spoonbill

“ The wings of the roseate spoonbill, the scarlet ibis, pelican, egret, great blue heron, and many other birds, are often made into fire-screens, either with or without the mounted head and [225] neck. Of these the two first mentioned are the most beautiful, especially the roseate spoonbill.
There is one form of screen produced in the west against which I protest. An entire bird is mounted standing on a perch-standard, its wings are spread full stretch, and drawn upward, regardless of the laws of anatomy, until the front edges meet and touch on a perpendicular line above the bird's back. ”

“ The European spoonbill is a white bird about 32 inches long. It breeds in Holland and other parts of Europe. The roseate spoonbill is the only American species. It is abundant in the tropics and also breeds in the southern United States. ”

“ In this species only the front of the face is devoid of feathers. A chestnut bird with head, wings, and tail dark brown with a green gloss.
215. Platalea leucorodia: The Spoonbill. (F. 1545) , (J. 939) , (+V.)
A large white bird with a crest in the breeding season. The long bill, which is flat and expanded at the end like a spoon, is black, as are the long legs. It is impossible to mistake spoonbills. There are no other birds like them. They are found in small flocks on sandbanks, etc., at the water’s edge. ”

“ To-day in Australia we find the spoonbill, a creature with the body of an otter and a duck's beak. It is, with the exception of this beak, a mammal, and a mammal bears its young alive and suckles them; yet the spoonbill, like a fowl, is reproduced from an egg. Then there are more than a score of species of marsupials found nowhere on earth, not to mention that wingless bird, the emu."
It would appear possible that the creature which carried away Wiggins came from Australia—possible, but hardly probable," Von Weigand replied. ”

“ In some specimens the plumage inclines from white to pink colour. On the hind part of the head is a beautiful white crest, reclining backward. The legs and feet are black. The wisdom of Providence is most conspicuous in the conformation of the bill, which is entirely adapted to the habits and manner of feeding of these birds: the frogs and fishes, which constitute the principal food of the Spoonbill, may often escape the thin and narrow beak of the heron and other birds, but the mandibles of this bird are so large at the end, that the prey cannot slip aside. ”

“ The birds moult late in May, and during this time the young of the previous year conceal themselves among the mangroves, there spending the day, returning at night to their feeding grounds, but keeping apart from the old birds, which last have passed through their spring moult early in March. The Spoonbill is said occasionally to rise suddenly on the wing, and ascend gradually in a spiral manner, to a great height. It flies with its neck stretched forward to its full length, its legs and feet extended behind. ”

“ BUFF-BACKED HERON
five or six. They look snow-white, and are then hard to tell from Spoonbill or Egret; but they ought not to be mistaken for the first-named bird, for, being Herons, they fly as all Herons do, with head tucked in, whilst the Spoonbill flies with extended neck. This is a real resident bird. Captain Shelley says it breeds in August in large colonies in the sont trees, and that, in addition to being useful to the poor cattle, it is of the greatest use to Egypt, as it wages war on the locusts that would otherwise devastate the green crops and all growing things. ”

“ In the early morning, and toward night, they keep up the most vehement chattering, all talking and none listening, after the manner of a Woman’s Rights Convention. There were also gaudy macaws, which floated past like fragments of a rainbow. In common with the parrots, they always go in pairs, and when one is found alone, he is always silent and sad, and acts as if he were a lone widower, and meditated suicide.
“THE SPOONBILL.”
On the occasional sandy reaches, we saw groups of the Roseate Spoonbills, with their splendid plumage. ”

“ When the Spoonbills are by themselves and feeding, they can easily be approached by those who, like yourself perhaps, are expert at crawling over the mud on hands and knees, through the tall and keen-edged saw-grass. I well recollect my own success when, after having seen three of these precious birds alight on their feeding grounds, about a quarter of a mile from where I stood, I managed after something short of half an hour to get within shot of them. ”

“ A Needless Apprehension.
A shipwrecked Spoonbill always has a shock
When he sees a Wigbird wading towards his rock.
[Pg 44]
It makes a Cat-o’-Nine-Tails simply smile,
When a Peacock tries the Neighbors to beguile. ”

“ The Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) and Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) —very rare birds—were also found at Boyndie.
Of the latter bird, Edward says, “This is a splendid bird, as rare as the last, if not more so. If we except the breast, which is of a bright yellow, encircled by a black ring, and some other orange and brown scattered here and there, it may be said to be of a beautiful verdigris green. The two middle tail [214] feathers are about an inch longer than the others. The bill is longish and pointed. Though termed bee-eaters, they also feed on beetles, gnats, grasshoppers, and flies, etc. ”

“ The female spoonbill is thus seemingly content to merely lay the eggs, while she lets the male build the nest, incubate the eggs, and take care of the young. In corroboration of the latter statements, the author observed a male bird building a nest at Providence Bay, Siberia, June 22, 1913; another male was flushed repeatedly from a nest containing two fresh eggs near the same place, on the same day, while a third male was found tending three downy young at Cape Serdze, Siberia, on July 17, 1913. ”

“ The Roseate Spoonbill is found for the most part along the marshy and muddy borders of estuaries, the mouths of rivers, ponds, or sea islands or keys partially overgrown with bushes, and perhaps still more commonly along the shores of those singular salt-water bayous so abundant within a mile or so of the shores, where they can reside 189 and breed in perfect security in the midst of an abundance of food. ”

“ Spoonbills are shy gregarious birds, frequenting creeks of the sea or marshes, where they may be seen wading ankle-deep in water, hunting for the fish, frogs, crustaceans, molluscs, beetles, and insect-larvae on which they live, or searching the ground in drier spots. They walk sedately, and fly with easy flapping action and outstretched head and legs, now and then rising spirally to float aloft; while swimming, perching, or standing on one leg are ordinary habits. ”

“ Whenever a feeding place seems to be productive, the Spoonbills are wont to return to it until they have been much disturbed, and persons aware of this fact may waylay them with success, as at such times one may shoot them while passing over head. To procure their food, the Spoonbills first generally alight near the water, into which they then wade up to the 191 tibia, and immerse their bills in the water or soft mud, sometimes with the head and even the whole neck beneath the surface. ”

“ Broughton, and he may have seen it in the Museum; it is not there, however, now—either having become moth-eaten, and consequently thrown away, or lost when the Museum changed its quarters across the market-place. Mr. MacCulloch does not seem to consider the Spoonbill such a very rare visitant to the Channel Islands, as he writes to me, "The Spoonbill is not near so rare a visitor as you seem to think; specimens were killed here in 1844, and in previous years, and again in 1849, and in October, 1873. [23] They are seldom solitary, but generally appear in small flocks. ”

“ There have been eight at least during the present year. Thus in ten springs and summers (for they seldom come after August) eighty-four Spoonbills have visited this one Norfolk broad, which has long been known—since 1851—to have far more attractions for this species than the mud-flats at Blakeney. Surely if our gunners would be considerate enough to let this grand bird alone, the woods of Cauntele (Cantley) and Castre by Jernemuth (Caister by Yarmouth) might rejoice in its presence again in breeding time (cf. Prof. Newton, Norf. Norw. tr. vi. p. 158) . ”

“ What birds can have their bills more peculiarly formed than the ibis, the spoonbill, and the heron? ”

“ The SPOONBILLS (Plataleæ) constitute a small group of very remarkable birds, possessing a powerful body, moderate-sized, strong neck, and small head; the long almost straight beak is flat and spoon-shaped towards its extremity, its interior is grooved, and the upper mandible hooked and nail-like at its tip. The strong, medium-sized foot has the three anterior toes much webbed, and furnished with small blunt claws. The wings are large and broad, and have the second quill longer than the rest; the tail is short, rounded, and composed of twelve feathers. ”

“ The female Spoonbill is like the male. The young seem to be duller, with no crest or ornamental plumes; in some cases the primaries are tipped with black, in Ajaja the head is entirely feathered.
Of fossil forms, Ibidopsis occurs in the Upper Eocene of England, Ibis and Ibidopodia, the latter of which connects the Ibises with the Storks, in the Miocene of France, Ibis also in that of Bavaria, Protibis in that of Patagonia, Platalea in the Queensland drifts. ”

“ Aquatic plants could easily have been gathered by this double spoonbill, and have been tossed, by bird-like jerks of the head and neck, back to the mill of the small and delicate teeth. Of teeth it had four and one half successive sets. In order to submit the food to the action of these vertical shears, the jaws must have been opened widely during mastication, and not unnaturally, as in birds and reptiles the mouth opens to a point behind the eye. ”

“ Its legs are also black. In the breeding season, a pendent tuft of white plumes further ornaments the head of both sexes, but is longest in the male. The young of the year have the primary quills dark-coloured.
The Spoonbills form a natural group, Plataleinae, allied to the Ibididae, and somewhat more distantly to the Storks (see Stork) . They breed in societies, not only of their own kind, but in company with Herons, either on trees or in reed-beds, making large nests in which are commonly laid four eggs—white, speckled, streaked or blotched, but never very closely, with light red. ”

“ Its bill is nearly ten inches long, slightly curved and very massive. Woe to the unlucky fish or luckless rat upon whom a blow falls from the Flinthead's heavy beak! There were probably one hundred thousand of these birds inhabiting Corkscrew Rookery at the time of my visit. There were also large colonies of the smaller White Ibis and several varieties of Heron. Eight of the almost extinct Roseate Spoonbills wheeled into view above the swamp, but quickly passed from sight. ”

“ When at length we reach the thicket of reeds the smaller birds become more conspicuous, the larger forms being more effectively concealed. The crane, which breeds on the most inaccessible spots, the great white heron, which fishes on the inner margin of the thicket, the spoonbill, which forages for food on the shallowest stretches among the reeds, all these keep themselves as far as possible in concealment, and of the presence of the bittern in the very heart of the reeds we are aware only by his muffled booming. ”

“ They estimated the flock to contain 240,000 birds. They found that each bird shot contained on the average 2000 young grasshoppers. Think of it; 480,000,000 grasshoppers a day! Where are those birds now, when needed to stem a locust plague? We have to pay the price of our folly in destroying valuable birds. A third Ibis is identical with the little Glossy Ibis of Europe.
The six Spoonbills are found throughout the world except in New Zealand and the northern parts of North America. They used to breed in England before man's selfishness and stupidity destroyed them and their nesting-places. ”

“ In the unequal division of domestic duties conditions among the spoonbills are similar to those among the phalaropes, where the male, after he has been courted and won by the larger and more brilliant female, takes upon himself almost all of the household cares. However, in the case of the spoonbilled sandpiper there is nothing to show that the female does the courting, although she is the larger of the two. ”

“ Birds ever fly reluctantly from danger; and all species possessing the advantage of a long neck, such as the Swan, Flamingo, Stork, Spoonbill, &c., will continue with their necks stretched to their utmost capacity watching an intruder for an hour at a time rather than fly- 96 - away. But in the Herons it must be only by a great effort that the neck can be wholly unbent; for even if the neck cut out from a dead bird be forcibly straightened and then released, it flies back like a piece of india-rubber to its original shape. ”

“ The nests of these birds are platforms of sticks, built close to the trunks of trees, from eight to eighteen feet from the ground. Three or four eggs are usually laid. The young, when able to fly, are grayish white. In their second year they are unadorned with the curling feathers on the breast, but in the third spring they are perfect.
Formerly very abandant, these attractive creatures have greatly diminished by the constant persecution of the plume hunters.
THE ROSEATE SPOONBILL.
If my nose and legs were not so long, and my mouth such a queer shape, I would be handsome, wouldn't I? ”