44 GRALLATORES. CICONIA. STORK. 



lated feathers, and four black ones. The neck and under 

 parts of the body pure bluish-grey. Back, wings, and 

 tail, of the same colour, but darker ; the feathers of the 

 back having a black streak running down their centres. 

 Wing-coverts spotted with white. Train bluish-grey. 



GENUS CICONIA. STORK. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill long, straight, strong, thick, subconic, pointed, much 

 higher than broad ; culmen cultrated ; the angle of the un- 

 der mandible rather ascending ; the upper mandible gently 

 descending to its end, which is pointed and sharp. Mandi- 

 bles of equal length ; the upper deeper than the lower ; tomia 

 straight, entire ; those of the upper mandible bending slightly 

 inwards. Nostrils linear, egg-shaped, at a short distance 

 from the base of the bill, pierced in the horny substance. 

 Tongue very short, narrow, entire, placed in the gape. 

 Orbits naked. 



Legs long ; part of the tibia naked. Feet four-toed ; front 

 of the tarsi reticulated, or covered with hexagonal scales; 

 toes of mean length ; middle toe one-third of the length of 

 the tarsus, and joined to the exterior one by a large mem- 

 brane, reaching as far as the second, and to the interior as 

 far as the first joint. First joints of the toes covered with 

 hexagonal scales ; the remainder imperfectly scutellated. 

 Hind toe short, incumbent, articulated opposite to the base 

 of the interior toe. Claws short, blunt, entire. Tail equal, 

 of mean length, and composed of twelve feathers. 



Wings long, with the first quill shorter than the second, 

 and the third and fourth the longest. In plumage, the up- 

 per parts of the body are covered with close-set feathers, 

 truncated at their ends. 



My readers will observe that these generic characters are 

 not applicable to all the species of the genus Ciconia of 



