232 Zoological Society. 



without any mention of chestnut or nun-one, the livery of the Ibis ig- 

 nea,) with the descriptions of the ancients -, it is therefore very pro- 

 bable, as M. Temminck suggests, that it is the sacred species wor- 

 shiped and embalmed by the Egyptians. 



Length (male), inclusive of tail, 25 J inches : tail 4J inches. Fe- 

 male 23^ inches : tail 4 inches. 



Black beetles, larvae of water insects, and numerous univalve shells 

 found in the stomachs of these birds. 



191. Ibis falcinellus^emm^Man.d'Orn^ndEtit. 2. 599. Tantalu$ 

 falcinellus, Linn., 1.211. Gmel., I. 648. Le Courtis vera, Buff., Ois. 

 8. 29. Courly d'ltalie, Buff., PI. Enl. 819. Marone Ibis. 



Sexes do not differ in plumage ; but the female is somewhat smaller 

 than the male. 



Length, inclusive of tail, 26 to 26J inches : tail 4 J inches. Mul- 

 titudes of l)lack beetles and grasshoppers, and univalve fresh- water 

 shells, found in the stomach. An immature bird in possession of the 

 Zoological Society, unlike the supposed immature bird (Ibisignea), 

 is characterized by the marone livery of the Ibis falcinellus. 



228. Plotus melanogaster, Gmel. 1. 580. Anhinga noir du Senegal, 

 Buff., Ois. 8.453. PI. Enl. 960 & 107. Black-billed Darter, called 

 the Snake-bird in Dukhun. 



hides bright yellow. Length, inclusive of tail, 2>7\ inches ; tail 

 9\ inches. Solitary. Rare in Dukhun, but frequently met with below 

 the Ghauts. This bird has the singular faculty of being enabled to 

 swim with the whole of its body under water, the long neck and head 

 alone being visible, looking like a snake. Colonel Sykes's limits do 

 not permit him to enlarge on the very peculiar formation of the stomach, 

 more resembling that of a ruminant than a bird. Seven small carp and 

 much deep-green vegetable fibre were found in the stomach of a female. 



Colonel Sykes states, that the domestic Duck (Anas Boschas) is ex- 

 tensively bred by the Portuguese in Western India, and that it is 

 subject to a kind of apoplexy, which carries it off in a few minutes, 

 although previously in apparent health. He has known a trader lose 

 a flock of more than thirty in the course of one day ; and he has him- 

 self had ten ducks struck simultaneously, stagger about for a short 

 time as if drunk, run round in circles, fall on their backs, and die. 

 He has not been able to discover any morbid appearances in the brain. 

 In no instance, in the stomachs of the Anatidce, were animal matters 

 met with ; the contents consisted of grains, seeds, vegetables, and 

 gravel. 



Colonel Sykes, in closing his Catalogue of the birds of Dukhun, 

 mentioned that the details he had given resulted from personal obser- 

 vation of the specimens, in a living or recent state. With few excep- 

 tions, the whole were shot by himself; and, to guard against false 

 impressions, he accumulated several individuals of the same species 

 and of both sexes, and was rarely confined to a solitary bird. 



