io6 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



angle from the body, and complete the curved line of the beak 

 and extended neck. The flight is more rapid than that of 

 either of these birds, and is performed by quicker beats of the 

 wings, and every now and then it skims along with outspread 

 pinions. The Ibis is very gregarious, and solitary birds or 

 even pairs are seldom seen. Half a dozen or more birds fly 

 in company and keep together in a wedge or string, like 

 Cranes or Geese. On the ground the Ibis walks sedately, like 

 a Heron. It is a very silent bird, but, when alarmed, it is said 

 to utter a harsh croak like that of a Heron. Its food consists 

 of worms, Crustacea, small shells, aquatic insects, and frogs, 

 for which it may often be seen searching on the low-lying coasts 

 and on the shores of lakes and rivers, walking about something 

 like a Curlew." 



Nest. Again I quote Mr. Seebohm : " The Ibis builds in 

 willows which are half under water, and makes its nest at 

 various heights from the surface in the same trees as Common 

 Herons, Night-Herons, Squacco Herons, Little Egrets, and 

 Pigmy Cormorants. Sometimes one tree will contain nests of 

 all the six species. The Great Cormorant and the Spoon-bill 

 are not so sociable ; they each occupy a part of the forest re- 

 served for themselves, but in the immediate neighbourhood, 

 sometimes surrounded by the nests of the other species a 

 colony within a colony. The nests are made of sticks and 

 reeds." 



Eggs. Three or four in number ; pitted and of a dark green- 

 ish-blue a beautiful egg. Axis, 1*9-2*2; diam., i^-i^. 



THE SPOON-BILLS. FAMILY PLATALEID^E. 



The members of this Family are easily distinguished by 

 possessing, in addition to the osteological characters of the 

 Ibises, a very curious development of the bill, which is long, 

 flat, narrowed in the middle, and then widened out into a 

 spoon-shaped, or spatulate, end. The Spoon-bills are found 

 nearly over the entire globe, and there are three genera which 

 are clearly recognisable. In the genera Platalea and Platibis, 

 the head is only partially bare and the orifice of the ear is 



