. Egyptian birds for the most part seen in the Nile valley . ; head crested; beak flattened from abovedownward, and terminating in a broad spoon-shaped expan-sion ; eye red. When seen flying the Spoonbill can be readilydistinguished from the only other white Egyptianbird, the Egret, because the former flies withits neck extended, whilst the latter, being of theHeron tribe, flies with its neck drawn back closeto the body. I have seen pictures in some of the Gurnahtombs which, though crudely drawn, were un-doubtedly meant for the Spoonbill. The old-timeartist was apparently so struck with t
. Egyptian birds for the most part seen in the Nile valley . ; head crested; beak flattened from abovedownward, and terminating in a broad spoon-shaped expan-sion ; eye red. When seen flying the Spoonbill can be readilydistinguished from the only other white Egyptianbird, the Egret, because the former flies withits neck extended, whilst the latter, being of theHeron tribe, flies with its neck drawn back closeto the body. I have seen pictures in some of the Gurnahtombs which, though crudely drawn, were un-doubtedly meant for the Spoonbill. The old-timeartist was apparently so struck with the flat, spoon-shaped beak that he deemed it a worthy subjectfor the exercise of his art. But though faithfullydsawn in so far as its form is concerned, it is wronglydepicted in its relation to the head, since the headis shown in profile, while the beak is drawn asthough it were seen from above! In no picturethat I can recall by these ancient draughtsmen isany bird ever shown in the very slightest degreeforeshortened. 140 .firflfrf SPOONBILLSOn a THE SPOONBILL 141 The use of this very remarkable beak is apparentwhen the bird is seen feeding; it is held low downon the surface of the water, and pushed along, likea shrimpers net, in front of the bird, so as tocollect the minute organisms which constitute itsfood. I have also seen this beak driven deep down,and brought to the surface bearing long strings ofgrass and other water weeds. In February 1909,when walking along the front at Luxor,—with itshotels and shops, crowds of people and noisydonkey-boys,—I was startled by quite a big flock ofSpoonbills that were beaten down low by a strongwind. They passed so close over my head that Isaw their big flat beaks and long extended necksquite plainly : as they got farther away their generallikeness to Swans in flight was most striking. Like all birds showing any marked peculiarityin the shape or size of the beak, the Spoonbillwears a somewhat melancholy air, and my readersw
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidcu319240, booksubjectbirds
