are immediately struck with the long beak and deprived of life. In the course of a very short time hundreds of fishes, frogs, and reptiles cover the surface, and are greedily swallowed till the birds become perfectly gorged. We were fortunate enough to discover a breeding settlement on a small island in the White Nile, and found that the Ibises had built principally on the branches of a very thorny and thickly-foliaged species of mimosa, called by the natives "Harahri." The nests were flat, loosely constructed of thin twigs and grass, and placed close together on the densest branches. The three or four white coarse-shelled eggs were of about the size of those laid by the Domestic Hen. * * * * * 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 remarkably thick plumage does not vary either in the sexes or at different seasons, but changes its hue somewhat as the birds become older. The back of the head is adorned with a crest, and the upper throat is bare; in some instances a portion of the crown is also unfeathered. The members of this group occupy almost every portion of the globe, and resemble each other very closely in their mode of life and habits. THE COMMON SPOONBILL. The COMMON SPOONBILL (_Platalea leucorodia_) has a portion of the throat bare, and the head adorned with a flowing crest. The plumage of this bird is entirely pure white, except a yellowish stripe around the crop. The eye is carmine-red, the beak black tipped with yellow, the foot black, the eye-ring yellowish green, and the throat greenish yellow. The female is smaller than her mate; the young are without the yellow patch on the breast, and have no crest. This species is from thirty to thirty-one inches long, and fifty-two inches broad; the wing measures seventeen, and the tail five inches.