Papular Btrtttmary of gmmatefc $aturr. 343 



no beard ; and its horns are remarkably 

 massive at the base. It lives solitarily or in 

 small herds ; and though bold and pugna- 

 cious, it is easily tamed. 



IBIS. A genus of birds which in their 

 general habits and conformation closely ap- 

 proach the Storks: they chiefly inhabit warm 

 countries, but, except in very cold regions, 



they are to be found in all parts of the world. 

 Generic characters: beak arched, long, 

 slenrier,thick at the base, and quandrangular, 

 i rounded at the tip, which is obtuse ; nostrils 

 | linear, extending from the root to the tip of 

 the beak, and dividing it into three portions, 

 ! of which the upper is the broadest, and flat- 

 tened ; head and throat bare ; legs long, and 

 ! four-toed, the front webbed at their base as 

 far as the first joint, the hind toe very long, 

 all provided with claws. They frequent the 

 borders of rivers and lakes, feeding on insects, 

 worms, mollusca, and occasionally on vege- 

 table matter. They perform powerful and 

 elevated flights, extending their neck and 

 legs, and utlering a hoarse croak. 



THE GLOSSY IBIS (Ibisfalcinellus) is nearly 

 , two feet in length. In the adult bird, the 

 I neck, breast, top of the back, and all the 

 inferior parts of the body, are of a bright red 

 chestnut ; the wing-coverts, quills, tail-fea- 

 thers, and the rest of the back, of a dusky 

 green, glossed with bronze and purple ; but 

 it varies much in its plumage at different ages. 

 This species builds in Asia, and is found on 

 the streams and lakes, in flocks of thirty or 

 forty_. They migrate perodically to Egypt ; 

 and in their passage they are numerous in 

 Poland, Hungary, Turkey, and the Grecian 

 Archipelago. They occasionally visit the 

 banks of the Danube, Switzerland, and, more 

 rarely, England and Holland. 



The WHITE IBIS (Ibis rdigiosat arrives in 

 Egypt about the time that the inundation 

 of the Nile commences, its numbers in- 

 creasing or diminishing with the increase or 



diminution of the waters : and it migrates 

 about the end of June, at which time it is 

 first noticed in Ethiopia. This species does 

 not collect in large flights, more than eight 

 ten seldom being seen together. They 



are about the size of a fowl ; the head and 

 neck bare ; the body white ; the primaries 

 of the wings tipped with shining, ashy 

 black, among which the white forms oblique 

 notches; the secondaries bright black, glossed 

 with green and violet ; the quill feathers of 

 the tail white. This and the above described 

 were the two species of birds adored by the 

 ancient Egyptians, who used to rear them 

 in their temples, and after death embalm 

 them. Their mummies are found to this 

 day in numbers, in the vast catacombs of 

 ancient Memphis. 



