770 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



paddy-fields, &c., now and then at the edge of a river or tank. 

 It eats beetles, crickets, and all sorts of insects, occasionally crabs, 

 prawns, and aquatic insects. Adams (No. 262, Birds of India,) 

 under the head of Falcinellus 'igneus, has evidently this bird in 

 view ; he states that it feeds on carrion, (?) beetles, scorpions, &c., 

 and associates with liooks on the frontier of the Punjab, it is 

 accused by many natives of consuming much grain. 



It breeds on the tops of high trees, making a large nest of 

 sticks, and laying two to four white eggs. It has a wild, melancholy 

 scream, which it often utters from the top of some tree, or occa- 

 sionally during its circling flights. It makes an excellent chase with 

 a Bhyri, flying strongly and rapidly, and often escaping from its 

 pursuer. The flesh is very good, at thnes really excellent. 



Other species of this group are Tant. calvus, Gmel. ; Ibis comaf.a, 

 Ehrenberg ; and I. cristatiis, Gmel. ; respectively the types of 

 restricted Geronticus, Comatibis, and Lophotihis of Reichenbach. 

 Ibis carunculata, Riippell, is the type of Bustrychia of the same 

 «ystematist ; and Tant. hagedush, Latham, and Ibis olivacea, 

 Dubus, belong to Hagedashia, Bonaparte. They are all from 

 Africa. There are several Ibises from South America, forming a 

 peculiar group, Phimosece, Bonaj). 



The last of the three Indian Ibises belono-s to another section, 

 Eadocimina, Bonaparte, distinguished by a slender channeled bill, 

 and scutellated feet. 



Gen. Falcinellus, Bechstein. 



Char, — Bill long, slender; tarsi lengthened, scutellated anteriorly; 

 toe 3 long and slender, otherwise as in the last ; wings, with the 

 2nd and 3rd primaries longest. Face nude. Cosmopolite. 



943. Falcinellus igneus, Gmelin. 



Tantalus, apud Gmelin,- Blyth. Cat. 1620— Sykes, Cat. 189 

 and 191— Jeudon, Cat. 325—1. falcinelius, TEMM.—GoULr., Birds 

 of Europe, pi 31 1— F. benualensis, Bunapaute, ex Lichten- 

 STEIN— Z'm'arz, R.—Koivara or Kowar, in Purneah— /fa/a kacliia- 

 tor a, Beng. — Tail kunharam, Tel. 



The Glossy Ibis. 



Descr.—Mxilt, head, neck, breast, upper back, and all the 

 under parts fine chesnut-red, tinged with brown on the head: 



