TANTALUS. 125 



01" somewbat slli^'lll■!^lla]■)C(l, plate ; nostrils siibhasal ; tertials longei" than 

 primaries, and with their wobs compact or normal. 



Tantalus. (Page 125.) 

 b'. Adult with only the front part of the head (all round) naked, the skin not 

 scurfy or corrugated ; nostrils strictly basal ; tertials shorter than pri- 

 maries, and with their webs somewhat decomposed Pscudotantalus} 



a'. Bill straight to the tip or else slightly recurved toward end, the tip pointed ; 

 toes short, the middle one much less than half as long as the tarsus. (Bub- 

 family Ciconiiniv.) 

 6'. Entire head and neck feathered, except lores and a narrow strip on each 

 side of throat; bill straight to the tip; tail ver}' short and deeply 

 forked, the broad and stiffened lower tail-coverts extending far beyond 



. its tip Euxenura} 



6'. Entire head and neck (except occipital patch) naked ; liill enormously large, 

 slightly recurved toward tip ; tail normal Mycteria. (Page 125.) 



Genus TANTALUS Lin.n^us. (Page 125, pi. XXXI., fig. 2.) 



Species. 



Adult: Plumage white, the remiges and tail gloss}' greenish black, with purple 

 and bronze reflections ; under wing-coverta pale rose-pink in breeding plumage ; 

 bill and naked scurf}' skin of head and upper neck dull grayish dusky. Young : 

 Head covered, except anteriorly, with rather scant, somewhat '• woolly," feathers, 

 the neck also entirely feathered ; plumage of head and neck grayish brown, be- 

 coming darker on occiput, where inclining to dark sooty ; rest of plumage as in 

 adult, but white duller, or more grayish (said to be wholly replaced by dusky gray 

 in very young birds), and black of remiges and tail less metallic. Immature (second 

 U'-'ir?) : Head entirelj- bare and scurfy as in adult, but whole neck feathered, as in 

 young; plumage intermediate. Length 35.00-45.00, wing 17.60-19.50, culraen 6.10- 

 7.30. tarsus 7.00-8.50. middle toe 3.85-4.30. Eggs 2-3, 2.74 X 1-80, chalk-white, 

 usuall}" more or less stained, in streaks, with pale brownish. ITab. Whole of tropical 

 and warm-temperate America, north to New York (casual), Ohio, Indiana, Wiscon- 

 sin, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California.. 188. T. loculator Linn. Wood Ibis. 



Genus MYCTERIA Linn.eus. (Page 125, pi. XXXII., fig. 1.) 



Species. 



Adult : Plumage entirely white ; bill, naked skin of bead and neck, with legs 

 and feet, black, the lower part of the naked neck encircled by a collar of bright 

 red (in life). Young: Plumage entircl}', or prevailing!}-, brownish gray; occiput 

 r-restcd with a somewhat " bushy" tuft of blackish hair-like feathers. Length about 



« PKudoiininlur, RiDGw., Pr. U. S. Nat. Mui<. v. ISS.'i, 550. Typo, Tnninlu, Hit Linn. 

 ' Biuenura RiDcir., Bull. U. S. Geol. A Geog. Sarv. Terr. iv. Mo. I, 1873, 250. Type, Ardea maguari 

 Omel. 



