CICONIIDAE 97 



Diss lira maf/uari having' like habits. Anastomus is called the 

 "• Shell-Ibis " from its cleverness in extracting Unio and other 

 molluscs from their shells, and Mycterid thrusts its bill into the 

 ground in search of grubs. The nests are fretjuently in tall trees, 

 but may be on ledges or in cavities of cliffs, or on Hat tops of rocky 

 hills; the shallow falnic, often of enormous size, being composed of 

 sticks with or without a lining of grass, leaves, nioss,rushes,feathers, 

 down, or, exceptionally, clay. Colonies are in most cases formed, 

 but White Storks occupy separate sites on houses, farms, towers, 

 or even cart-wheels purposely erected, and Black Storks breed apart 

 in woods and precipitous gorges. On the other hand, more than 

 thirty nests of Anastonii's have been ol)served in one tree. The 

 eggs, numbering from three to six, are white and chalky, and are 

 stained easily. Incubation lasts nearly four weeks. The adult in- 

 serts its bill into that of tlie helpless nestling 1;o feed it, while the 

 male attends constantly upon his sitting mate ; we may, however, 

 safely disregard the more fabulous instances of affection recorded. 



" Wood-Ibises " are similar in habits, but they are more grega- 

 rious ; and build smaller nests of twigs lined with moss, laying 

 as many as eight wdiite eggs, rarely streaked with pale In'own. 



Tantalus loculator, the "Wood-Ibis" of the warmer parts of 

 America, is white, with metallic greenish -black remiges and 

 rectrices, the bare head and upper neck being covered with dusky 

 corrugated skin, and the crown with a smooth plate. Tlie beak 

 and feet are lead-coloured, the mider wing-coverts pinkish. T. 

 {Pseudotantalus) ihls <»f the Ethiopian Eegion has only tlie front of 

 the head naked, but is rosy towards the upper and under wing- 

 coverts, the smooth face and feet being red and the bill yellow. T. 

 Icucocejjhalus of the Indian and Indo-Chinese countries differs in its 

 yellow face, while the Indo-Malay T. cinereus has it red aiid black. 



Anastomus oscitans, the " Open-l)ill," another Indian and Indo- 

 Chinese species, is white, with black scapulars, remiges, and lec- 

 trices, yellow bill and feet ; the Ethiopian A. lamclligerus is metallic 

 l»lack varied by a little rufous, the shafts of the feathers of the 

 fore-neck and lower parts in adults expanding into Hat shining, 

 horn-like plates at the tip. Leptoptilus duhius, the "Adjutant" 

 of the Indian Eegion, is ^Teenish-black above and white below, 

 the fleshy-red head and neck being naked with a few hairs, and 

 a white ruff surmounting the shoulders, while a huge ruddy pouch, 

 communicating with the nasal cavity, hangs below the throat. The 



VOL. IX II 



