160 



Lath., Ind. Orn. 2. 699. 7S. Le Heron Violet, Buff., Ois. 7. 



370. Heron de la cote de Coromandel, Buff., PI. Enl. 906. 



Violet Heron. Kandehsur or Koxaruw of the Mahrattas. 

 It is singular that this well-marked bird should have been classed 

 as a Heron for a long period, and remain as such at the pre- 

 sent moment in Shaw. Length, inclusive of tail, 33 to 34| 

 inches : tail 8 inches. 

 Mostly seen on open stony plains or in ploughed fields. Food 

 chiefly grasshoppers. Monogamous. Jrides scarlet, margined 

 with a narrow circle of black and an exterior circle of yel- 

 lowish. 



185. Ciconia Argala, Steph., vol. 11. p. 622. Ardea dubia, Gmel., 



1. 624-. Ardea Argala, Lath. 

 Is met with in Dukhun ; but Col. Sykes has not a specimen. Called 

 the Adjutant by Europeans, from its stiff soldier-like strut. 



Genus A?iastomns i 111. Courly. 



186. Anastomus Typus, Temm. An. Coromandelianus, Steph., 11. 



632. Ardea Coromandelica (l'adulte) et Ponticeriana (le 

 jeune), Temm. Le bee ouvert des Indes, Sonn., Voy. 2. pi. 

 in p. 219. Buff, Ois. 7.409. PI. Enl. 932. Cinereous Muscle- 

 catcher. 

 Irides bright yellow. Length, inclusive of tail, 32 to 33 inches : 



tail 6J to 6£ inches. 

 Buftbn's figure is excellent. Lives on the animals of a new and 

 large species of Unio. The stomach of this bird is not less re- 

 markable than its bill : the last exhibiting a beautiful adapta- 

 tion of means to their end ; the form of the mandibles enabling 

 the bird to hold and open the bivalve shell of the Unio. So- 

 litary. 

 The proportional length of the intestinal canal exceeds that of 

 any other bird in the order Grallatorcs, in one specimen being 

 five times the length of the body, neck and bill inclusive. 



Genus Tantalus, Linn. 



187. Tantalus leucocephalus, Lath., Ind. Orn. 2. 706. Le Tantale 



de Ceylon, Cuv., Regne Anim. 1.481. White-headed Ibis. 

 Irides yellow. Length, inclusive of tail, 40^ to 43 inches : tail 



64- inches. 

 A large diaphanous spot on each side of the base of the upper 



mandible before the eyes does not appear to have been noticed 



in the description of the bird. 

 The generic characters, if this bird be made the type, require 



modification. The stomachs of three birds were distended with 



fibrous vegetable matters in a comminuted state. A fourth 



had the same vegetable matters and the half of a carp 9 inches 



long. 



Genus Ibis, La Cep. Ibis. 



188. Ibis reUgiosa, Cuv., Regne Anim. 1.483. Sacred Ibis. V Ibis 



sacrc, Cuv., Recherches sur les Osscmens Fossiles, L 161. 



