24 



{ArdeidcB), and their allies. All are long-legged, long-necked 

 wading birds. 



The Spoonbills, remarkable for their flat, spoon-shaped bills 

 and white or rose-colored plumage, are tropical or semitropical 

 in distribution, one of the five or six species reaching the southern 

 border of the United States (see specimens in Cases E, I, and M). 

 The Ibises are more numerous, of similar distribution, and note- 

 worthy for their pure white, scarlet, or iridescent plumage. 

 Especially interesting are the Sacred Ibis (Case M), from its 

 mythological history, and the Scarlet and Glossy Ibises (Cases E 

 and I), from their brilliant plumage. Several of the species occur 

 in different portions of our Southern States. The Storks are also 

 birds of warm countries ; two of the species, however, reach our 

 southern border, the so-called Wood Ibis and the Jabiru (see 

 Case E). The Storks are birds of large size and tall stature, the 

 Adjutant or Maribou Stork (Case M), standing five or six feet in 

 height. Many of them have the head naked and scaly, while the 

 Adjutant is rendered still more ugly by its pouch. Its lower tail- 

 coverts, however, furnish the much-prized maribou feathers, used 

 in millinery. 



The Herons include the Egrets and Bitterns, which are only 

 special names for particular kinds of Herons. They are a numer- 

 ous group, distributed throughout all the warmer parts of the 

 world; about seventy-five species are currently recognized. Many 

 of them, especially the Egrets, are beautifully ornamented with 

 crests and plumes, the traffic in which for millinery purposes bids 

 fair to nearly or quite exterminate some of the species. (Cases 

 E, I, and N.) The Boatbills (genus Cochlearius) of tropical 

 America are remarkable for their broad depressed bill. 



Two peculiar African birds, the Umbrette {Scopus umbrctta) 

 (see Case N) and the Shoe-bill {Baheiiiceps rex) are sometimes 

 associated with the Herons and Storks, each being the type of a 

 distinct family, and presenting peculiar features of structure. 



Order XII, Faliidicolu\ or Alectorides, is a rather mixed group, 

 embracing quite dissimilar forms. It includes the Trumpeters, 

 Cranes, Courlans, and Rails, which name, in a general sense, covers 

 also the Wood-hens, Moor-hens, Gallinules, Porphyrios, and Coots. 



