ORDER OF HERONS, STORKS, IBISES, ETC. 



Order Hcrodioiics 



NDER this order are grouped the long-legged wading birds generally found 

 along shores or on muddy flats. Their necks are long, but are easily bent into 

 a strongly curved S-shape. Their wings are rounded, long, and broad, and the 

 tail short. The toes are four in number, all on the same level, long, slender, 

 and without webs. The head is more or less naked with small, elevated nostrils, 

 and the skull slopes gradually to the base of the bill. The bill is variable 

 and divides the order into three suborders: the Spoonbills and Ibises (Ibidcs) 

 have the bill grooved along the side from nostril to tip, a peculiarity not found 

 in the other members of the order; the Storks and Wood Ibises iCiconicc) have 

 the bill very thick at the base and curved near the tip which is rather blunt ; 

 the Herons, Egrets, Bitterns, etc. (Hcrodii) have the liill straight and sharp-pointed. The 

 first of these suborders, as its name indicates, contains two families, and the others one 

 each. 



Their food is principally fish, reptiles, amphibians, moUusks, and other aquatic animals. 

 The food is seized by a quick, straight thrust of the bill. Because of the structure of their 

 feet, they are naturally good perchers and generally nest in trees. The nests are clumsy 

 and crude, the eggs few. The young are naked, or nearly so, when hatched, and are fed 

 and cared for in the nest by the parents. 



SPOONBILLS, IBISES, AND STORKS 



Order HcroJioiics : families Platalcidcc. Ibididar. and Ciconiidcc 



HE Spoonbills are distributed quite generally throughout the tropical and sub- 

 tropical regions and are grouped in three genera including five or six species, 

 of which the only American representative is the Roseate Spoonbill. As a 

 family they are gregarious, especially during the breeding period, when they 

 gather sometimes in very large colonies in marshes and bayous and build 

 platform-like nests in low trees or bushes. The eggs number from three to 

 five, and are white, spotted with varying shades of brown. 



Structurally the Spoonbills are similar to the Ibises, except in their pos- 

 session of the curious spoon-shaped bill which gives them their name. This 

 is plainly a special adaptation, and is made use of by the bird in obtaining its 

 food, which consists of frogs, aquatic insects, shellfish, mollusks, and small fish, 

 and which the bird captures by submerging its bill and swinging it from side to side in a 

 semicircular sweep imparted by a corresponding movement of the body. While thus feed- 

 ing the birds stalk about with grave and dignified mien, seldom making long pauses, as do 

 the Herons, to wait for their prey to approach. While resting, either in a tree or on land, 

 they often stand for an hour or more on one leg, after the manner of many of their kind. 

 Their flight is accomplished by an easy flapping operation, and is accompanied by some 

 soaring, with head and legs outstretched meanwhile. 



The plumage of the Spoonbills varies from almost pure white to the beautiful com- 

 bination of white and rose or pinkish tints which characterize the species found in this 

 country. During the breeding season the adults develop a fine crest, which depends from 

 the nape of the neck. Spoonbills have no true vocal organs, though the windpipe is very 



[I7,?l 



