JABIRU 



2. Jabiru mycteria (Linnaeus) 

 Jabiru 



Length about 1373 mm. (54.00 in.). 



Sexes alike. Adult. Plumage white, neck 

 mostly bare, the skin dark above and bright red 

 lower down. Bill tapering, very large, long, 

 slightly upcurved, black ; legs and feet black. 



Young. Plumage brownish gray, the back of 

 the head with a crest of blackish hair-like 

 feathers. 



This enormous stork, one of the largest of 

 existing birds, occurs in the wilder parts of the 

 Republic, both east and west of the Canal Zone, 

 which it doubtless occasionally crosses. 



18. Family ARDEID^E 

 The Herons 



Large or rather large, generally gregarious 

 wading birds with a long slender neck, narrow 

 head, long, sharply-pointed, spear-like bill, 

 long legs, short tail, and narrow compressed 

 body, which appears much larger than it is on 

 account of the loose plumage. Herons are 

 easily recognized by their flight. They do 

 not sail or soar, but keep the wings, which are 

 quite large and long, in continual motion, and 

 they carry the legs stretched out straight be- 

 hind but the head drawn back close to the 

 shoulders, the neck being bent in an S-shaped 

 curve, though when starting their flight, the 



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