113* BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



SUBORDER CICONI^!. THE STORKS AND WOOD IBISES. 



FAMILY CICONinXZE. THE STORKS AND WOOD IBISES. 



CHAR. Large, Heron-like birds, with bill much longer than the head, thick through the 

 base, and more or less elongate-conical; the nostrils sub-basal, more or less superior, and 

 bored into the bony substance of the bill, without overhanging or surrounding membrane; 

 maxilla without any lateral groove. Legs covered with small, longitudinally hexagonal 

 scales; claws short, depressed, their ends broad and convex, resting upon horny, crescentic 

 "shoes;" hallux with its base elevated decidedly above the base of the anterior toes. 



The above characters are sufficient to define this family, which 

 is related to the Ibises (Tbididce) and Spoonbills (Plataleidce) as 

 well as to the Herons. There are two well-marked subfamilies, 

 with the following characters: 



Subfamily Ciconiinae. Bill elongate- conical, acute, compressed, the end not decurved, 

 though sometimes recurved. Nostrils rather lateral than superior. Toes very short, the 

 middle one much less than half the tarsus (only a little more than one third); lateral toes 

 nearly equal; claws short, broad, nail-like. 



Subfamily Tantalinae. Bill elongated, subconical, subcylindrical, the end attenuated and 

 decurved, with the tip rounded ; nostrils decidedly superior; toes long, the middle toe one 

 half or more the length of the tarsus ; lateral toes unequal, the outer decidedly longer than 

 the inner; claws normal, moderately lengthened, rather narrow. 



SUBFAMILY TANTALIN-ffi. THE WOOD IBISES. 



GENUS TANTALUS LINN^JUS. 



Tantalus LINN. S. N. ed. 10. i, 1758, 140; ed. 12, i, 1766, 240. Type, T. locidator LINK. 

 Tantalides EEICHENB. Hand-b. 1851, p. xiv. Same type. (Not of WAGLEB, l$32,=Pleffadia 



KAUP.) 

 Tantalops COUES, Key, 2d ed. 1882, 653. Same type. 



GEN. CHAK. Large, Stork-like birds, with long legs, neck, and beak, the latter attenu- 

 ated and decurved terminally, much as in the true Ibises. Bill much thickened at the base, 

 both vertically and laterally, much attenuated terminally, where almost abruptly, but no 

 greatly, decurved. Nostrils bored directly into the bony substance of the bill, the maxilla 

 destitute of any trace of a nasal groove. Legs covered with small longitudinally hexagonal 

 scales. Toes long, very slender, the middle one about, or a little more than, half the length 

 of the tarsus, the outer one reaching to the middle of the subterminal phalanx, of the middle 

 toe, the inner much shorter, not reaching the subterminal articulation of the middle toe; 



