296 BIRDS. GBALLATORES. 



The birds of this genus frequent the margins of streams and lakes, and feed on 

 insects, worms, shell-fish, and sometimes vegetables. Their destroying reptiles and 

 serpents is a popular fable. They migrate periodically. The Lfaltinellus, as well 

 as the /. religiosa, were held sacred by the Egyptians ; and both species are found 

 in great numbers in the vast catacombs of the ancient Memphis. 



\.falcinellus, Tern. Glossy Ibis. Head, neck, front of the body, 

 and top of the back, of a beautiful chestnut hue ; rump, back, 

 wings, and tail, blackish-green, with bronze and purple reflec- 

 tions ; bill greenish-black, and the tip brown ; irides brown ; and 

 legs greenish-brown. 22 inches long. Inhabits Europe and Asia. 

 B Skarv, xii. pi. 2. 



I. religiosa, Cuv. (T. Mthiopicus, Lath.) Sacred Ibis. Plumage 

 white, with the head and upper part of the neck brown ; back 

 behind and quills black. Inhabits Egypt. Shaw, xii. 10. 



I. rubra, Vieill. Scarlet Ibis. Face, bill, and legs red ; body scar- 

 let ; wings tipped with black ; in the female the bill is yellow- 

 ish-gray ; a mixture of white and gray prevails in different parts 

 of the plumage, and the tips of the two first quills are of a deep 

 azure. 22 inches long. S. America. Shaw, xii. pi. 3. 



I. plumbea, Tern. Plumage leaden-blue, with the feathers of the 

 occiput and nape whitish in the middle ; forehead with a white 

 band. 27 inches long. South America Tern. PL Col. 235. 



Gen. 21. NUMENIUS, Briss. Scolopax, Lin. 



Bill long, slender, arched, compressed, point hard, and slight- 

 ly obtuse ; upper mandible projecting beyond the lower, 

 rounded at the end, and channelled through three-fourths of 

 its length ; nostrils lateral, linear, and pierced in the furrow ; 

 face feathered ; legs slender, naked above the knee ; the 

 three fore-toes united by a membrane to the first joint ; the 

 hinder articulated to the tarsus, and touching the ground. 



The birds of this genus frequent the neighbourhood of waters and marshes. Their 

 food principally consists of earthworms, insects, slugs, and testacea. Their flight is 

 lofty and well sustained. They migrate in large flocks, but live in an insulated 

 state during the breeding season. 



N. arquata, Lath. Tern. Common Curlew. General plumage 

 bright cinereous, with brown longitudinal opots on the neck and 

 breast ; belly white, with longitudinal spots ; feathers of the back 

 and scapulars black in the middle, and edged with rufous j tail 

 whitish-cinereous, striped with transverse brown bands ; upper 

 mandible black-brown, the under flesh-coloured; iris brown ; legs 

 deep cinereous. 2 feet long. Europe, B. Shaw, xii. pi. 4. 



The bill of this species is generally from five to six inches long. This instrument 

 is admirably fitted tor picking worms, small crabs, &c. out of the sand, and is, at 

 the same time, successfully used as a weapon of defence aganst the shieldrake 

 and gull. 



N. phceopus, Lath. (Phceopus, Cuv.) The Whimbrel. Plumage 

 bright cinereous, with brown longitudinal spots on the neck and 

 breast ; a longitudinal band of yellowish- white on the middle of 



