666 TANTALID^E. 



Breeds throughout India nearly. Especially common in Sind and Ceylon. 

 Nests made in trees ; eggs white, chalky, broad ovals, and elongated 2-4 to 

 2-95 inch in length and 1*65 to 1*95 in breadth. 



Sub-Family ANASTOMIN^E. 

 Bill thick, stout, gaping in the middle. 



Gen. AnastomoUS. Ilh'ger. 



Bill long, curved, thick, solid, gaping in the middle, compressed at the 

 sides ; tail nearly even ; nostrils basal, at the edge of the upper mandible j tarsi 

 reticulated ; tibia naked for half its length ; toes webbed at the base. 



1366. Anastomous oscitans (Bodd.}, Jerd., B. Ind. iii. p. 765 ; 



Hume, Nests and Eggs Ind. B. p. 630; Blyth, B. Burnt, p. 158 ; Hume, 

 Sir. F. iii. p. 192 ; Hume, Str. F. viii. p. 114; Legge, B. Ceylon, p. 1103 ; 

 Gates, Str. F. x. p. 244; Murray, Vert. ZooL, Sind, p. 277. The SHELL IBIS. 



Young. Plumage light grey, darker on the head and neck, the feathers on 

 the latter hair-like ; upper back, scapulars, primaries and secondaries, also the 

 winglet and tail black, with purple reflections ; nude skin of the chin and front 

 of the eyes greenish black ; in a later stage of plumage the head, sides of the 

 face, nape and neck behind are dusky brown, the feathers short ; neck in 

 front, breast, lower parts, back, wing coverts and tail pure white, the primaries 

 and secondaries also, their shafts black, also the shafts of the winglet ; the 

 first three primaries broadly margined with black on their outer and inner 

 webs, their tips black ; the inner webs of the primaries margined only to the 

 notch ; tertials white, also black-shafted ; the upper series slaty grey, with 

 their webs lax and disunited. In the breeding plumage the bird is entirely 

 white ; bill greenish black ; nude orbitar and gular skin blackish ; irides grey 

 or pale brown ; legs blackish. 



Length. 2910 30 inches ; wings 15 to 16; tail 7; bill at front 6-5 to 8; 

 tarsus 5*25 to 5-5. 



Hal. Sind, Beloochistan, Persia, Punjab, N.-W. Provinces, Oudh, 

 Bengal, Guzerat,and the Deccan ; abundant in Bengal and Central India, also 

 Burmah and Ceylon ; chiefly found in the vicinity of rivers, lakes and marshes ; 

 resident in Sind, Breeds from July to September in company with Thres- 

 kiornis melanocephalus. Eggs, creamy white, from 2 to 2-52 inches in length 

 and from 1*48 to 1*82 in breadth. 



Sub-Family, 1BIDMME. 



Bill more slender, long and curved, as in Anastomous. 

 Gen. ThreSkiornis, Gray. 



Bill nearly square at base, curved ; upper mandible with a lateral groove 

 extending to the tip ; nostrils situated at its base ; tail short ; hind toe half as 

 long as the mid-toe ; head and neck nude ; scapulars and tertials lengthened 

 and decomposed ; feathers of the breast elongated ; plumage white. 



