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264 TANTALID®, IBISES, SPOONBILLS.—GEN. 227. 
White Ibis. Plumage pure white, outer primaries tipped with glossy black ; 
bill and feet reddish; young dull brown or gray, the legs bluish, the bill 
yellowish. Claws curved; face and throat bare in the adult. Size of the 
last or rather larger; bill 7; tarsus 4. South Atlantic and Gulf States, 
casually N. to Long Island (Lawrence). W4xs., viii, 43, pl. 66; Nurr., 
ii, 86; Aup.;, vi, 54, pl. 360); Bp., 684505" tt ahh | ee, Ae 
Scarlet Tis Plumage rich cece outer primaries t ipeed with glossy 
black; bill and feet reddish. Yoing ashy-gray, darker above, paler or 
whitish below. Size and proportions nearly as in the last species. Tropical 
America; accidental in the U.S. (Louisiana; seen at a distance, not pro- 
i ~ cured, Audubon; Rio Grande, fragment of a specimen examined, Cowes.) 
Wits., viii, 41, pl. 66; Nurr., ii, 84; Aup., vi, 53, pl. 359; Bp., 683. RUBRA. 
Subfamily PLATALEIN4. Spoonbills. 
Bill long, perfectly flat, remarkably widened, rounded and spoon-shaped at the 
end. Birds of this group are known at a glance, by the singularity of the bill; 
they closely resemble the foregoing in structure and habit. One genus, with five or 
six species of various countries. 
227. Genus PLATALEA Linneus. 
1, Ltoseate Spoonbill. In full plumage rosy-red, whitening on neck; lesser 
wing coverts, tail coverts, and lower throat crimson; tail brownish-yellow ; 
legs pale carmine ; bare head yellowish-green, with a dark stripe ; bill mostly 
grayish-blue. Young with the head mostly feathered, colors much less vivid 
(no crimson) ; tail rosy ; in an early stage probably grayish. Length about 
30; wing 14-15; tail 4-5; tarsus 4; bill 6-7. South Atlantic and Gulf 
states, N. casually to the Carolinas and Natchez (Audubon) ; common; 
gregarious ; breeds on trees and bushes in the wooded swamps. WILS., Vii, 
; pl. 62; Nurr., ui, 79; AuD., il, 72, pl. 362; Bp., 686. . -.) “AvADAS 
Family ARDEIDA. Herons. 
It is in this family that powder-down tracts (p. 4, § 6) reach their highest 
development; and although these peculiar feathers occur in some other birds, 
there appears to be then only a single pair; so that the presence of two or more 
pairs is probably diagnostic of this family. In the genus Ardea and its immediate 
allies there are three pairs, the normal number; one on the lower back over the 
hips, one on the lower belly under the hips, and one on the breast, along the track 
of the furcula. In the bitterns, the second of these is wanting. In the boat-billed 
heron, Cancroma cochlearia, there is still another pair, over the shoulder blades. 
There are other pterylographic characters; in general, the tracts (p. 5, § 9) are 
extremely narrow, often only two feathers wide; there are lateral neck tracts; the 
lower neck is frequently bare behind. More obvious characters are, the complete 
feathering of the head (as compared with storks, etc.) except definite nakedness of 
the lores alone—the bill appearing to run directly into the eyes; a general 
looseness of the plumage (as compared with Limicole), and especially the frequent 
development of remarkably lengthened, or otherwise modified, feathers, constituting 
