. The birds of South Africa. Birds. 106 PLATALEIDa; PLATALEA In South Africa the present species is by no means common; it is hardly known in Cape Colony, but appears to be occasionally met with in Natal and the Transvaal, and to be fairly abundant in the Lake Ngami region and on the Zambesi. The following are the recorded localities : Cape Colony—Kariega in the Alexandria division (Albany Mus.), Berg Eiver, and Verloren Vleiin Piquetberg? (Verreaux), Klaarwater, , Griquatown, in Gri- qualand West, December (Burchell); Natal—Newcastle, breeding October (Butler), Upper Umzimkulu, Durban Har
. The birds of South Africa. Birds. 106 PLATALEIDa; PLATALEA In South Africa the present species is by no means common; it is hardly known in Cape Colony, but appears to be occasionally met with in Natal and the Transvaal, and to be fairly abundant in the Lake Ngami region and on the Zambesi. The following are the recorded localities : Cape Colony—Kariega in the Alexandria division (Albany Mus.), Berg Eiver, and Verloren Vleiin Piquetberg? (Verreaux), Klaarwater, , Griquatown, in Gri- qualand West, December (Burchell); Natal—Newcastle, breeding October (Butler), Upper Umzimkulu, Durban Harbour, and St. Lucia Bay in Zululand (Woodward) ; Transvaal—Mooi Eiver, near Potchefstroom, October (Ayres), near Johannesburg, once obtained (Haagner); Bechuanaland—Lake Ngami, common (Andersson), Salt Pans, and upper Botletli River (Holub); German South-west Africa—Damaraland and Great Namaqualand, rare (Andersson); Zumbo, on the Zambesi, November (Alexander).. Fig. 29.—Head of Platalea alba. Habits. This bird appears to resemble the European Spoonbill closely in its habits; it is generally found in flocks of varying number, often in company with Herons along the muddy banks of rivers or lagoons, where it feeds on small fishes, Crustacea, moUusca, and even aquatic insects ; it is a shy bird as a rule, and flies off in companies in V lines. Colonel Butler is the only observer who has found the Spoonbill breeding in South Africa. This was in a reed- bed on the Transvaal side of the Buffalo Eiver, a few miles from Newcastle; here, on October 1st, he found some five or six large nests built of sedge, placed just above the level of the water; in most of the nests were two or three young birds just hatched, but one contained three fresh eggs, which were " white, richly marked with. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfe
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