122 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, I50 



Family THRESKIORNITHIDAE : Ibises, Spoonbills ; Cocos y 

 Garzas Paletas 



This group of long-legged wading birds lives in the same haunts 

 as the herons and in general shares their habit of life. Ibises are 

 marked by their long curved beaks, the spoonbill by its broad bill, 

 much widened at the tip. The family as a whole is one of numerous 

 species throughout the temperate and tropical world. The white ibis 

 and spoonbill range widely in Panama ; the Cayenne ibis is local. The 

 other species listed come as stragglers. 



KEY TO SPECIES OF THRESKIORNITHIDAE 



1. Bill slender, decurved ; not enlarged at tip 2 



Bill flat, straight, much widened at tip. .Roseate spoonbill, Ajaia ajaja, p. 127 



2. Wholly black with a sheen of green, or brownish black 3 



White, or parti-colored 4 



3. Middle toe Vv^ith claw, equal to the tarsus or longer; a pronounced nuchal 



crest Cayenne ibis, Mesembrinibis cayennensis, p. 124 



Middle toe with claw decidedly less than tarsus ; no pronounced nuchal 

 crest Glossy ibis, Plegadis f. jalcinelliis, p. 124 



4. Throat wholly bare White ibis, Eudocimus albiis, p. 125 



Throat feathered in center, bare at sides. 



White-throated ibis, Theristicus c. caiidatus, p. 126 



MESEMBRINIBIS CAYENNENSIS (Gmelin): Cayenne Ibis; Corocoro 

 Tantalus cayennensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 652. (Cayenne.) 



A short-legged, dark-colored ibis, with a bushy crest. 



Description. — Length 480 to 530 mm. Upper surface black, with 

 a sheen of bronze green; a greenish black, bushy crest on the back 

 of the head ; below dull black. 



An adult male, taken at Mandinga, had the soft parts colored as 

 follows : Iris light brown ; bare frontal area, and most of the bill, 

 dull greenish gray ; tip of bill light fuscous ; bare skin around eye, 

 lores, extreme base of mandible, and bare throat, deep neutral gray; 

 crus light brownish white; tibio-tarsal and tarso-phalangeal joints 

 bluish neutral gray ; rest of tarsus and toes dull vetiver green. 



Measurements. — Males (5 from Panama, Colombia, and Brazil), 

 wing 263-300 (280), tail 127-155 (138), culmen from base 104.5- 

 118.5 (112.6), tarsus 61.8-63.5 (62.4) mm. 



Females (4 from Panama, Colombia, and Brazil), wing 280-289 

 (283), tail 131-148 (142), culmen from base 103.0-113.0 (108.5), 

 tarsus 56.8-62.2 (59.5) mm. 



Resident. Tolerably common around Almirante Bay, Bocas del 

 Toro, and on the Rio Chucunaque, Darien ; casual elsewhere. 



