IBIS. 359 



Sub- Fan lily V. 

 THE IBISES. TANTALINyE. 



General Characteristics. — -Bill lengthened, more or less slender, and curved 

 throughout its whole length, the sides gradually compressed to the tip, which is 

 obtuse ; the nostrils lateral, and sometimes placed in a lengthened groove, with the 

 opening always linear and exposed ; the wings rather long ; the tail moderate and 

 even ; the tarsi of various lengths, usually robust, and covered in front with trans- 

 verse or hexagonal scales ; the toes long, the inner toe shorter than the outer, both 

 more or less united at the base, the hind toe long and usually strong. 



These birds are met with in the warmer parts of Asia, Africa, 

 and America. They are to be seen in small and large flocks on 

 the banks of rivers, lakes, or swampy places, or on land that has 

 been recently overflowed, wading knee-deep in search of their 

 food, which consists of frogs, water-lizards, various insects, and 

 snails. Some species frequent the plains and open dry places, 

 subsisting chiefly on insects and worms ; while others have been 

 observed standing on the decayed trunks of trees as they float 

 down the streams, watching the approach of fish, on which they 

 pounce with their long bills. Having satisfied their hunger, they 

 usually perch on the exposed and elevated branches of the neigh- 

 bouring trees, where they stand in an erect posture, resting their 

 heavy bill upon their breast: in such situations they are extremely 

 cautious and watchful. Their flight is usually performed in sweeps 

 high up in the air ; but when migrating, which they often do in 

 search of food or on the change of season, they usually arrange 

 themselves in two lines diverging from a leader. Their nest is 

 placed on some lofty tree, or, by some species, upon the ground 

 in marshy places. 



The typical species — 



The Egyptian Ibis [Gerontkiis JEtliiopicus), is also called the " Sacred 

 Ibis," because it figures largely in an evidently sacred character on the hiero- 

 glyphics of ancient Egypt. It is a migratory bird, arriving in Egypt as soon 

 as the waters of the Nile begin to rise, and remaining in that land until the 

 waters have subsided, and thereby deprived it of its daily supplies of food. 

 The bird, indeed, probably owes its sacred character to the fact that its 

 appearance is coincident with the rising of the Nile, an annual phenomenon 

 on which depends the prosperity of the whole country. Sometimes the ibis 

 stalks in solitary state along the banks of the river or the many water-courses 

 that intersect the low country, but they often associate in little flocks of eight 

 or ten in number. Their food consists mostly of mollusks, both terrestrial and 

 aquatic; but they will eat worins and insects, and probably small reptiles. 

 The ibis was, at one time, thought to kill and eat snakes, and this idea was 



