298 THE BIRDS 



mass of sticks: It will return year after year to the same spot 

 with great regularity, and its arrival is eagerly looked for by people 

 on whose house-roof it takes up its abode in the spring. Adjutant 

 Storks are said to make a loud grunting sound, but the majority 

 of the Stork family are voiceless, owing to the lack of voice-muscles, 

 and are only able to express themselves by clattering their beaks. 



The Sacred Ibis (Ibis czthiopica), portrayed so often in ancient 

 Egyptian hieroglyphs, is closely allied to the storks. The Ibidida 

 is divided into two sub-families, the Ibises (Ibidince) and the Spoon- 

 bills (Plataleince}. The Ibises have a long, soft bill, hard at the 

 tip, and curved downwards ; the Spoonbills, as their name implies, 

 have a peculiar wide, spoon-shaped bill, which is said to be polished 

 and actually used as a spoon by the natives of certain parts of 

 Africa. The birds frequent pools and swamps, and wade in the 

 shallow water in search of crustacean and other water creatures, 

 to which they are very partial. The Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia] 

 once bred regularly in Norfolk and Suffolk, but is now only an 

 occasional visitor to British shores. It frequents many parts of Europe 

 and Asia and Africa. Other species inhabit Australia, New Zealand, 

 and the Ethiopian regions. The Flamingos occupy a position 

 between the Storks and the Geese. 



The Swans, Geese, and Ducks are grouped together into one 

 family the Anatidce. They agree in having large, ovate bodies, 

 well-developed necks (which attain the greatest length in the 

 Swans), short legs and webbed feet, but their most distinctive 

 characteristic is the presence on the edges of the upper mandibles 

 of a series of highly-developed upright plates or lamella which 

 act as a sieve to drain the water from the food taken in the beak, 

 and are also useful to nip off herbage and grip fish. 



In their habits most members of the family are very similar. 

 They frequent rivers, streams, pools and seas, for the most part in 

 the northern regions, being most numerous on the shores in the 

 winter time, and are more or less gregarious and migratory. There 

 are comparatively few species of Swan. The Mute Swan ( Cygnus 

 olor) is common on British rivers, particularly on the Thames, where, 

 being a " protected " bird, it fortunately escapes extermination. 

 The Whistling Swan (C. musicus) and Bewick's Swan (C. bewicki) 

 are winter visitors. The handsome Black Swan (Chenopsis air aid] 

 is a native of Australia; it is sometimes seen on ornamental 



