2084 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES 



The last genus we'have space to mention is exclusively American, and com- 

 prises the beautiful scarlet ibis (Gitara rubra] , ranging from Northern South Amer- 

 ica to Central America and the West Indies, and the white ibis (G. alba}, which 

 is South American. While agreeing with the preceding in having the front of the 

 metatarsus covered with large scales, they differ in that the whole front of the head 

 is naked in the adult. Both have the tips of the wings blackish; the rest of the 

 plumage being scarlet in the one, and black in the other. 



While the glossy ibis appears never to have been anything more 

 than a casual visitor to England, there is good evidence to show that 

 the beautiful bird known as the white spoonbill (Platalea leiicolodia') , nested in Suf- 

 folk and Sussex some three centuries ago, although now it is but rarely seen in 

 Britain. The genus to which the spoonbill pertains represents a subfamily distin- 

 guished from the ibises by the beak being very broad and depressed, widening out 

 at the tip into a spatulate expansion, and except at the extremity being almost 

 straight. Like the storks, spoonbills have no true organ of voice; but they differ 

 from the members of the former 'group in having the lower end of the windpipe 

 folded in a figure of eight. Their tongues are short like those of the storks, but 

 blunted at the end. Spoonbills, of which there are several species, have a cosmo- 

 politan distribution, although they are not found in Malaysia and Oceania. In 

 the common species, which attains a length of about thirty-two inches, the whole 

 plumage of the adult, inclusive of the crest at the back of the head, is white, with 

 the exception of a band of buff feathers on the front of the lower part of the neck, 

 and a streak of the same tint up each side of the same. The roots of some of the 

 feathers of the back also display a rosy tinge. With the exception of the extremity 

 of its rounded portion, when it is yellow, the beak is black, as are also the legs and 

 feet; while the iris is bright red, and a patch of naked skin on the throat is yellow. 

 Young birds have no crests, and the shafts and tips of the primary quills are black. 

 The spoonbill ranges over the greater part of Europe except the extreme north, 

 while eastward it extends across Southern Siberia to Amurland and the north of 

 China; its southern range including India and North Africa. In Japan it is re- 

 placed by the greater spoonbill \P. major), and this country is also the habitat of 

 the lesser spoonbill (/*. minor) . 



The spoonbill frequents either marshes, lakes, or sand banks in rivers, where 

 it may be met with in small parties or large flocks. It feeds in shallow water, in 

 which it dabbles with its broad beak in search of insects, crustaceans, mollusks, 

 frogs, and small fish. It breeds in numbers in a marsh near Amsterdam, which is, 

 however, being drained; and there are numerous nesting places in India. In Hol- 

 land the nests are situated on the mud among reeds, and are raised to a height of 

 from twelve to eighteen inches, being composed of reeds and mud, and tapering 

 from base to summit, upon which is a slight depression for the white eggs, usually 

 four in number. The eggs are laid at intervals of several days and incubated at 

 once. In color the eggs are dull white, with reddish-brown streaks and spots. In 

 India and Ceylon the spoonbill nests in tall trees, the pipal and the tamarind being 

 favorites. 



