TAN 



Don Pedro de Toledo and his son Don Garcia. He accom- 

 panied the viceroy in an expedition against the Barbary 

 powers. He died about 1584. He wrote also a georgical 

 poem, entitled ' II Podere,' and another didactic poem, 

 entitled ' La Balia,' besides sonnets, canzoni, and other 

 lyric poems, in which he has displayed great poetical 

 powers. Pie has been compared by some with Petrarca. 

 A complete edition of Tansillo's works was published at 

 Venice in 1738, in 4to. (Tiraboschi, Storia della Lettera- 

 t a ni llnli/ina; Corniani, Secoli delta Letteratura Italiana.) 



TANSY. [TANACETUM.] 



TANTA'LID/K, a family of Wading Birds. [GRALLA- 



TORES.] 



The genus Tantalus of Linnaeus stands between the 

 genera Arden 'and tjaifnpa.r, in the twelfth edition of the 



Cuvier places the genus Tantalum between the Open- 

 beaks (Hiutis, Lacep_. : Anastomiw, 111.) and the Spoonbills 

 I'/ntntmi. Linn.). He characterizes the genus as having 

 the feet, the nostrils, and the bill of a stork; but the back 

 of the bill is, he observes, rounded, and its point curved 

 downwards and slightly notched on each side : a portion of 

 the head, and sometimes of the neck, is, he adds, de- 

 nuded of feathers. He notices the following species: the 

 American Tantalus. Taiitnlux loculator, Linn. ; the Afri- 

 can Tantalus, Tmitalux Ibis, Linn. ; and the Ceylonese 

 Ibis. Tiiiitiiliin li-nriiri')ili<iln*< the largest of all. 



Of T'liilnlii-i lltix. lie remarks that it is white slightly 

 clouded with purple on the wings, with a yellow beak, and 

 the skin of the fare naked and red, adding that it was for 

 a lung time regarded by naturalists as the bird so much 

 revered by the antient Egyptians under the name of //;/*, 

 but that, recent researches had proved that the Ibis is a 

 much smaller species, of which he intends to treat there- 

 after. This species, lie states, is not commonly found in 

 Eirypt, but that it had been brought from Senegal. Tan- 

 tnlii.i he arranges in the family f'tit/irnxtrt'*. 



ffiix, Cuv., finds a place in the Rcgin' Animal. as the se- 

 cond genus of Cu\ier's LotlgifWtFet, between Scolopax 

 and yiiuviniix, Cuv. 



II>U rtiliyioi-i, Cuv. Adult. 



Cir. 'hut In 1 has separated the Ibises from the 



Tuiiliili oi Gmelin, because their bill, arched like that of 

 the Tuiiliili, is ne\ertlieless much more feeble, and with- 

 out any notch at the point, whilst the nostrils, pierced to- 

 the back of its base, are each prolonged into a furrow 

 i continues to the tip. The bill, he adds, is rather 

 thick, and nearly square at its base: there is always, he 

 further remarks, some part (if the head, or even of the 

 neck, denuded of i'enilier~. The external toes are notably 

 palmated ni then bue, and (tie hind toe is sufficiently long 

 to toucli the earth. Some of the species, he observes, have 

 P, I'., No. 1 4!K. 



41 TAN 



the legs short and reticulated: these are the most robust, 

 and have the largest bill. 



Of this genus Cuvier notices the following species: 



L'Ibis sacrc (Ibis religiosa, Cuv. ; Abou-Hannes, Bruce, 

 pi. 35; Tantalus Mthiopicus, Lath.). For the adult of 

 this species he refers to Ossemens Fossiles, torn, i., pi. 1 

 and 2 (skeleton and perfect bird) ; and for the young to 

 Savigny, Descrip. de I'Egypte, Hist. Nat. des Ois., pi. 7. 



' This,' says Cuvier, ' is the most celebrated species : it 

 was reared in the temples of antient Egypt, with venera- 

 tion which approached to worship ; and it was embalmed 

 after its death, as some said, because it devoured the ser- 

 pents which would otherwise have become dangerous to 

 the country: according to others, because there was a 

 resemblance between its plumage and some of the phases 

 of the moon : finally, according to other some, because its 

 advent announced the rising of the Nile. For a long time 

 it was thought that this Ibis of the Egyptians was the Tan- 

 talus of Africa : we now know that it belongs to the genus 

 of which we are treating. It is as large as a hen, with 

 white plumage, except the end of the wing-feathers, which 

 is black ; the last coverts have their barbs elongated, loose, 

 black, with violet reflections, and thus covering the end 

 of the wings and tail. The bill and the feet are black, as 

 well as all the naked part of the head and neck : this part 

 is covered in youth, at least on its upper surface, with 

 small blackish feathers. The species is found throughout 

 the extent of Africa.' [ABOU-HANNES.] 



The other species noticed by Cuvier are L'Ibis rouge 

 (Scolopax ruber, Linn. ; Tantalus ruber, Gra.) and L'Ibis 

 vert, vulg. Courtis vert (Scolopax falcineUus, Linn.). 

 iRcgHf Animal.) 



The following is the description of L'Ibis vert (Ibisfal- 

 cinellus): Purpled chestnut, with deep green mantle. 

 The young with the head and neck sprinkled with whitish. 

 Locality, South of Europe and North of Africa. (Regne 

 Animal.} 



This, Cuvier observes, is to all appearance the species 

 which the antients called the Black Ibis. [ABOU-HANNES, 

 vol. i., p. 38.] 



The views of Mr. Vigors with regard to the position of 

 Tantalus will be found in the article HERONS, vol. xii., 

 p. 1G5. 



Mr. Swainson states that the Tantalidee, or Ibises, are 

 large and very singular birds, living almost entirely on the 

 swampy banks of rivers and fresh waters, rarely, if ever 

 frequenting open shores, like the more typical waders. 

 He observes that their habits and structure seem com- 

 pounded of those belonging to the HERONS on one side 

 and to the Rails [RALLID.E] on the other : their flight and 

 size, he says, remind us of the former, while their long toes 

 and insectivorous nature are more in unison with the latter. 

 He traces their analogy to the Tenuirostres in the metallic. 

 colours of their plumage and in their having their heads 

 frequently bare of feathers, as in the Ampelidec and other 

 tenuirostral types. The majority, he remarks, live in tro- 

 pical latitudes. 



In the Synopsis the following characters of the family 

 (which is placed between the Ardeidce and BalKdce) are 

 given : 



Tantalidee. 



Family diameter. Size large. Bill hard, considerably 

 lengthened, cylindrical, and curved from the base. Face 

 and head more or less naked. Hinder toe on the same 

 plane as the others. Plumage metallic. 

 Genera. 



Anastomus, 111. Open beak. Bill straight, hard, heavy, 

 solid, compressed, marked with longitudinal wrinkles. 

 Upper mandible very straight ; the base thickened at the 

 top and as high as the crown ; the tip notched ; the mar- 

 gin dentated : under mandible greatly curved upwards, 

 and only touching the upper at the base and at the tip. 



Example, Anastomus lamelligerus. 



T't/i/uttis, Linn. Bill nearly as thick at the base as the 

 head ; cylindrical and attenuated towards the tips, which 

 are slender and slightly bent: margins entire. Upper 

 mandible notched. Nostrils naked, vertical, basal, oval- 

 oblong. Toes connected at the base. 



Example, Tantalus loculator. , 



Ibis, Antiq. Bill much more slender ; cylindrical, and 

 arched from the base. Nostrils basal, lateral. Wings 

 broad, ample : the second and third quills longest. 



Example, Itn't rnlifi-. 



VOL. XXIV.-G 



