G«12 



AVES-IBIS. 



m summer. It is however rarely seen to the northward of Altamaha river; 

 and even along the peninsula of Florida is a rare bird ; in Jamaica and 

 several other of the West India islands, Mexico, and Guiana, it is more com- 

 mon, but confines itself chiefly to the seashore and the mouths of rivers. 

 It wades about in quest of shell-fish, marine insects, small crabs, and fish. 

 In pursuit of these, it occasionally swims and dives. 



This bird is of a beautiful pink color, with a mixture of black at the lower 

 part of the neck. The most common species, however, is that which bears 

 the name of the white spoonbill, 1 from its plumage, save that in some rare 

 exceptions it is entirely white. This bird is about the size of a heron, but 

 somewhat shorter in the neck and legs. The bill is more than half a foot 

 long, and has the shape of a spoon. 



THE IBIS. 2 



The Egyptian ibis, so famous in history and mythology, is larger than the 

 stork, measuring from thirty to forty inches in length. The bill is seven 



1 Platalea nivea, Cuv. 



2 Ibis religiosa, Cuv. The genus Ibis has the bill long, slender, arched, broad at vhe 

 base, tip depressed, obtuse, and rounded ; upper mandible deeply furrowed in its whole 

 length; nostrils near the base at the upper part of the bill, oblong, straight and perforated 

 in the membrane which covers the furrow ; the face, and frequently a part of the htad and 

 neck, naked ; legs naked above the knee ; the fore toes united as far as the first joint ; tne 

 hind toe long, and reaching the ground. 



