lOO CICONIIFORMES chap. 



nineteen secondaries; the tail of twelve rectrices is usually short and 

 even, or slightly rounded, hut may he long, as in Comatibis, Geron- 

 ticus, Cercihis, and Theristicus ; in the last two of which it is cuneate. 

 The furcula is U-shaped, the tongue rudimentary, the nostrils are 

 pervious, an aftershaft is present, hut there are no powder-down 

 patches or syringeal muscles. Plata! ea leuco7'odia has the trachea 

 convoluted like a ficjure of 8 in old birds. Adults and nestliuo-s 

 are uniformly downy, the latter varying from hlack with a white 

 band over the crown in Plegadis to white in Platalea. 



Sub-fam. 1. Ihidinae. Ibises are shy birds, which inhabit 

 not only marshy spots and wooded country, but also the driest of 

 plains and rocky gorges, being found both in pairs and in flocks. 

 The flight is tolerably high and rapid, with extended neck and legs, 

 most species habitually sailing or circling aloft, though Plegadis 

 rises with a whirr and skims along at no great elevation. On the 

 ground the gait is graceful, and swimming is certainly practised 

 at times, nor are perching or roosting on trees or reeds uncommon 

 habits. The usual note is loud and harsh, Ihis melanocejJhala 

 being said to have a booming call ^ and Inocotis a melancholy 

 scream - ; the food consists chiefly of aquatic insects, molluscs, 

 crustaceans, and worms ; but small fish, lizards, newts, frogs, grass- 

 hoppers, and beetles form part of the diet ; Geronticus, which does 

 not despise carrion, acts as a scavenger. Most Iluses wade in 

 pursuit of prey, whether in fresh or salt water, moving the bill to 

 and fro, and probing the subjacent mud. Some species breed apart, 

 others in colonies ; the nest being placed on trees or low bushes, 

 and more rarely among reeds, or, as in Geronticus and ComatiMs, 

 in holes in cliffs or on ledges. The structure is not remarkably 

 large, and is composed of sticks or stems of plants, with or with- 

 out a lining of herbage, straw, or roots ; the eggs, from two to four 

 in number, being deep green-blue in Plegadis, pale blvie in Grapto- 

 cephalus, similar or darker in Inocotis, olive-green in Hagcdashia, 

 and greenish-white in Ihis and EudocivuLS, or even brownish in the 

 last-named. In all except the first two there are generally reddish 

 or brownish markings. Incubation lasts about three weeks. 



Eudocimus ruber and E. alhus, the Scarlet and White Ibises of 

 tropical America, are respectively coloured as the names import, the 

 tips of the longer primaries and of the bill being black, while the 



^ Hume, ed. Gates, Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, iii. 1S90, p. 227. 

 2 Jerdon, Birds of India, ii. Calcutta, 1S77, p. 770. 



