GRALLATORES I PHCENICOPTERID^. 25 I 



The White Ibis, or White Curlew, /. alba, Vieill., of the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf States, rarely northward, is 

 twenty-five inches long, the wing eleven and a quarter 

 inches, and the bill seven inches ; color white. This spe- 

 cies feeds largely upon crawfish, which it often secures 

 by a curious process. The crawfish, in dry weather, 

 burrows to the depth of three or four feet, and in all 

 cases deep enough to reach damp earth or water. The 

 Ibis carefully approaches the hole, drops in pieces of 

 earth, and then retires a step, and silently awaits the 

 result. Soon the crawfish begins to remove the earth 

 thus thrown in, but no sooner does it come to the en- 

 trance of its burrow than it is seized. 



The Glossy Ibis, 7. Ordii, Bonap., found sparingly 

 throughout the United States, is twenty and a half inches 

 long, the wing ten inches ; color chestnut. 



PLATALEID.E, OR SPOON-BILL FAMILY. This Family 

 comprises large birds which have the bill completely de- 

 pressed and very broad, and widening at the rounded 

 tip. Seven or eight species are known. 



The Genus Platella comprises our only species, the 

 Rosy Spoonbill, P. ajaja, Linn., of the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf States, which is thirty inches long, the wing 

 fifteen inches, and the bill seven ; color rose-red. 



PHCENICOPTERID^:, OR FLAMINGO FAMILY. This Fam- 

 ily comprises birds with the legs and neck excessively 

 elongated, toes fully webbed, bill bent abruptly in the 

 middle, and the edges lamellated. Some place this fam- 

 ily here, and others put it in with Anseres. , 



The Genus Phoenicopterus is represented by the Fla- 

 mingo, P. ruber, Linn., of the warmer parts of America, 

 which is forty-five inches long, the wing sixteen and a 

 half inches ; color scarlet. 



The Sub-Order of Grallae comprises waders which have 

 the head feathered to the bill, the latter, when much 



