(360 Birds. 



rendered by the bird in destroying serpents and other 

 noxious creatures ; others to a fanciful resemblance 

 between the bird and one of the moon's phases; and 

 others, again, to the arrival of the birds in Egypt at or 

 about the period of the annual inundation of the Nile. 

 The sacred Ibis has a long, stout, curved black bill ; the 

 head and neck are black and naked, and the plumage 

 is white, with the tips of the wings black. Another 

 species, the Glossy Ibis (Ibis falcinellus), shared the vene- 

 ration of the Egyptians with the Sacred Ibis ; it has a 

 more slender bill than the Sacred Ibis, and its plumage, 

 which is beautifully glossy, is dark green above and 

 reddish-brown beneath. This bird is common in the 

 south of Europe, and specimens have been shot in Eng- 

 land. The Scarlet Ibis (Ibis rubra) is a beautiful species, 

 which adorns the banks of the great rivers of South 

 America, in company with the Eoseate Spoonbill. 



THE CUELEW. (Numenius arquatus.) 



" Soothed by the murmurs of the sea-beat shore, 

 His dun-grey plumage floating to the gale 

 The Curlew, blends his melancholy wail 

 With those hoarse sounds the rushing waters pour." 



Miss WILLIAMS. 



" Wild as the scream of the Curlew, 

 From rock to rock the signal flew." 



SIR WALTER SCOTT. 



THE CORLEW is a large bird, weighing about twenty-four 



