CEYLON WATER BIRDS. 307 
furnished with broad short claws. The tail is short; the 
wings are long and broad ; the flight is ponderous, but power- 
ful, with slow, steady wing beats, the neck and legs being 
held outstretched. Storks frequently soar high in the air, 
wheeling in slow circles with expanded wings. Their food 
consists of small fish, frogs, reptiles, molluses, large insects, or 
even mice and such small animals. Six species, distributed 
among as many genera, are found in Ceylon. Three of them 
are decidedly rare. 
Rough Key to Ceylon Ciconiide. 
A.—Length about 46 inches ; bill straight ; naked skin on 
face confined to a ring round the eye. 
Ciconia alba (White Stork). 
B.—Length about 32 inches ; bill straight ; forehead and 
cheeks naked. 
Dissura episcopus (White-necked Stork). 
C.—Length about 52 inches ; bill slightly curved up at the 
end ; head and neck completely feathered. 
Xenorhynchus asiaticus (Black-necked Stork). 
D.—Length about 54 inches ; bill straight ; head and neck 
almost naked. 
Leptoptilus javanicus (Hair-crested Stork). 
E.—Length about 40 inches; bill curved downwards at 
the tip ; head and throat naked. 
Pseudotantalus leucocephalus (Painted Stork). 
F.—Length about 32 inches; forehead feathered; face 
and throat naked ; bill in adults with a gap between 
the mandibles. 
Anastomus oscitans (the Openbill). 
Ciconta ALBA (Blanford, Vol. IV., p. 369 ; 
Legge, pp. 1119, 1226a). 
The White Stork. 
Description Plumage white; the wing quills with the 
primary and larger secondary coverts black with a slight green 
or purple gloss; the secondary quills more or less frosted 
with white. 
