158 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



scut came from tliosc authors who i-xpcotcil to add to the iiatiirahioss and hoinogc- 

 iieity l)y iiH liidiiin the llamiii^os, thoui,'h Profussor Parker, it must be admitted, all the 

 time tried to show that llie distance of the Pelargi)mori>li!e from some of the schizo- 

 gnathous wadeix was not so great as most authors were ready to concede since Hux- 

 ley's scheme of classification had commenced to overthrow the old notions. As to 

 the mutual re!ationshi|> of the forms included, the views were a little divided, some 

 authors holding that the ibises and storks were more closely allied than the storks and 

 herons, others defending the op])osite opinion. Tlie latter are now generally conceded 

 to be right, but so far li.ave some modern anatomical systematists gone as to assert that 

 the ibises are so diff»'rent from the storks antl herons, and so much like tlie siliizo- 

 gnathous waders, that they are better classified with the latter than with the former, 

 Forbes being foremost among the authors recommending this coui-se. Forcible argu- 

 ments are |irodu<-eil on bdtli sides, I)Ut a final decisimi is extremely ditlicult, since it 

 seems to depend upon the question whether tlie desmognathism is so important a 

 character that it counterbalances the many diameters in which herons and storks dis- 

 agree with the ibises, atid which the latter have in common with the Gralhe. For 

 obvious reasons we shall not try to solve the question here, but will retain the ibises 

 in this order, though regarding them as a group of equal taxonomic value to the 

 storks and herons combined. 



We therefore propose to treat them as a sujier-family under the name of IBIDOI- 

 DE.E, and shall at once jirocecd to i)0int out the chief chanictei-s by which they differ 

 from the Ardeoidcm. The former, wliich embrace ibises and spoonbills, are schizo- 

 rliinal ; the posterior angle cf their mandible is recurved ; occi])iUil foramina are pres- 

 ent i the edge of the cranium .above the orbits is truncate, iii<licaiiiig the position of 

 the nasal glands; the bi-e.ast-bone is four-notche«l behind, like that of the curlews; 

 the accessory femoro-cau<lal is present. They also differ from the storks and herons 

 in the form of the furculiim and its relation to tlic brejist-bone, the number of ribs, 

 anil several other charactere of more or less imporUmce. Externally the two su])er- 

 families arc easily distinguished by the bill, the Ibidoideaj having it weak and fur- 

 rowed by a long groove for nearly its whole length. 



As indicated .above, the present super-family embraces the ibises and the si)Oon- 

 bills, but while the members of these two grou])S look extremely dissimilar on account 

 of the apjiarently enormous difference in the .shape of their bills, they are otherwise 

 so closely allied as to be hardly allowed more than sul>family rank; hence we recog- 

 nize only one family, the Iiiidid.e. The bill of the ibises is more or less cylindrical, 

 and evenly arched from the b.ase, much after the f.ashiou of a curlew's bill. The 

 spoonbills have the beak greatly flattened ami broadened, anteriorly widened into a 

 s])0on-like or spade-like exjiansion. The Ibididie inhabit the warmer portions of the 

 globe, but are not very numerous, some thirty living species being known. Several 

 fossil forms have been described, however; for instance. Ibis payana and Ibidoijodia 

 palumtris, from the miocene deposits of Fi-ance, which are said to show even greater 

 affinities to the curlews than the recent species. 



First in the line comes, of coui-se. Ibis at/iiopica, the .s.acred ibis of the ancient 

 Egyptians (and of the British Ornithologists' Union). In exjilanation of the accom- 

 I'anying cut, it may be stated that the head and neck are entirely naked, and the skin 

 black ; the feathers of the body are white ; the lengthened and disconnected barbs of 

 the tertiaries are beautifully blackish purple. 



According to the lie v. E. C. Taylor, the buff-backed heron "does duty on the 



