496 IBIS FALCINELLUS. 



ration by the ancient Egyptians, and is not unfrequently 

 found preserved in their sepulchres. It was distinguished 

 from that bird by the name of " Black Ibis," as is shown by 

 Savigny, who, in his Histoire Naturelle et Mythologique de 

 l'lbis, presents us with the following account of it : — " There 

 is in Egypt another Numenius, which is as much attached 

 to that country as the white species, and is even more 

 numerous there. This second species, inferior in size to the 

 first, is distinguished from it especially by the want of white 

 in its plumage, and by the feathers with which the neck and 

 head are always well clothed. All the upper part of the 

 body is black with very rich green and purple reflections ; all 

 the lower part of a greyish-black, which also reflects the 

 tints, but in a less degree ; and these two colours are nearly 

 the same as those seen in the decomposed feathers, and at 

 the tips of the large quills of Numenius Ibis, It happens, 

 however, that in the old individuals, the belly and thighs 

 take a deep chestnut tint, which sometimes extends over the 

 breast. The feathers of the head and the whole neck are 

 blackish, slightly bordered with whitish, darker on the top 

 of the head and on the nape, which are glossy. The bill and 

 feet have exactly the same form as those of Numenius Ibis ; 

 only they are not so thick. They seem at first black, but on 

 being more closely examined show a greyish-olive colour. 

 The feet are also proportionally longer, and the bill is a little 

 shorter. The tongue is smaller, somewhat lanceolate, and 

 very obtuse ; the irides are brown. In other respects the 

 two species are very similar ; and the only differences which 

 the Egyptians consider as presented by them, and which may 

 be remarked at a glance, and when the birds are not looked at 

 closely, is that the one is black and white, and that the other 

 appears entirely black. These two Numenii are the only 

 species that regularly arrive in Egypt at certain periods. 

 That of Belon, with the head, bill, and feet red, is so seldom 

 seen there, that the people can only have the most imperfect 

 idea of it. They are of a certainty the only species which 

 the present inhabitants know, and are named by them ; and 

 in the course of more than three years, when the French 

 army was in Egypt, neither I, nor any person whom I know, 



