IBIS. 519 
Genus IBIS. 
The Ibises were included by Linnzeus in the genus Tantalus, of which 
Tantalus loculator, the “Tantalus ” of Klein, is generally accepted as the 
type. This species, having only one notch on each side of the posterior 
margin of the sternum, has been removed into the subfamily of the Storks, 
and a new genus has been made for the true Ibises. The genus [dis was 
established by Lacépéde in 1801, in the third volume of the Mém. de 
VInst. Se. Math. et Phys. p. 518, the Sacred Ibis (the Tantalus ibis of 
Linnzeus) being the type. 
The Ibises are distinguished by the form of their bill, which is long, 
narrow, and curved downward, like that of a Curlew. The tarsus is covered 
with small reticulations before and behind in the larger species; but 
scutellated in front in the smalier species. The head and part of the neck 
are sometimes bare of feathers. The wings are moderately long, and the 
tail is rather short, consisting of twelve broad feathers. The plumage 
is often adorned with metallic tints, and several species are very brilliant 
in colour. 
This genus contains about a score species, which are distributed through- 
out the temperate and tropical portions of both hemispheres, with the 
exception of the smaller islands. Only one species is European, which 
is a rare straggler to the British Islands. 
The birds in this genus frequent swamps, the reed- and marsh-covered 
shores of lagoons and lakes, and flat coasts. They are wary and gre- 
garious in their habits. They walk about very sedately, and their flight 
is powerful but somewhat laboured. Their notes are harsh. Their food 
consists of aquatic insects, small reptiles, fish, &c. They breed in large 
swamps, making their nests of sticks and aquatic herbage; and their eggs 
are green or white spotted with reddish brown. 
