Volume 34, Plate VIII / Ornithology (Birds)

White or European Spoonbill

Platalea leucorodia

An occasional visitant most often met with in England and rare elsewhere, the Spoonbill breeds on trees or among tall reeds and feeds on small reptiles, fish, and aquatic life. The adult is entirely pure white with a rich buff band on each side of the lower neck, an ample erectile crest, and a black bill yellow towards its rugous tip, while the young lack both the crest and the buff band.