2074 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES 



stork does not gorge an eel instantly like the cormorant; on the contrary, it retires 

 to the margin of the pool, and there disables its prey by shaking and beating with 

 its bill, before it ventures to swallow it. I never observed this bird attempt to swim; 

 but it will wade up to the belly, and occasionally thrust the whole head and neck 

 under water after its prey." 



There are a few other Old- World representatives of this genus, but there are 

 none in North America; while the Maguari stork of South America (Dissura ma- 

 guari) and the West-African white-necked stork (D. episcopus) are more generally 

 referred to a distinct genus, characterized by the tail being deeply forked and its 

 lower coverts stiffened so as to resemble true rectrices. 



Although externally not unlike the black stork in general appear- 

 s , ance, the white-bellied stork (Abdimia sphenorhyncha] of Africa is 



made the type of a distinct genus, as it differs from the more typical 

 storks in having the rings of the bronchial tubes incomplete behind and closed with 

 membrane; thus indicating that it is a generalized type retaining evidence of the 

 original kinship of the family with the herons. Considerably smaller than the 

 black stork, this species has the head and neck black, with a purple lustre; the back, 

 wings, and tail black tinged with green, and the bend of the shoulder and under 

 parts white. The iris is brown, the naked space round the eye blue, and that on 

 the throat red, the beak greenish with a red tip, and the leg and foot brownish 

 gray, except at the ankle joint, where it is red. From Dongola in the Sudan, 

 nearly to South Africa, this stork is found in vast numbers, although it frequents 

 the villages only during the breeding season. There, however, it nests but seldom 

 on houses, preferring trees in the neighborhood, and in the south generally select- 

 ing mimosas. Not unfrequently it breeds in large companies, as many as thirty 

 nests having been observed in a single tree. The eggs are rather smaller than those 

 of the white stork, but vary considerably in form and dimensions. The simbil, as 

 this bird is called in the Sudan,- receives from the natives of that district the same 

 veneration and protection as is accorded to its white cousin in Holland, while it 

 closely agrees in its general mode of life. 



This group is typically represented by the American jabiru (Myc- 

 i a americana) of Brazil, but may also be taken to include the saddle- 

 billed jabiru (M. senegalensis) of West Africa, and the black-necked 

 jabiru (M. australis) of Australia and Southern New Guinea, although the two 

 latter are frequently referred to a distinct genus, under the name of Xenorhynchus. 

 These birds are of large size, and easily recognized by the greatly elongated beak 

 being nearly straight along its upper border, but curving upward inferiorly toward 

 the tip, and its cutting edges presenting a similar curvature; while at its base it 

 often has a saddle-like waxy growth. The leg is much elongated, with the toes 

 very short; the wing long and rounded, with the third quill the longest; and the 

 short tail sharply truncated. In the African and Australian species the upper rings 

 of the bronchial tubes are incomplete behind, as in the white-bellied stork, but in 

 the third they are complete like those of the true storks, although narrower at the 

 back than in front. In the American jabiru the head and neck are bare and black, 

 and the remainder white; but in the African species the feathered head and neck, 



