ANASTOMATIN.B. 389 



Bill black, (more or less mottled with yellowish undulations 

 during the winter), ochry-yellow at the tip; irides blood-red; 

 naked skin of face and gular skin orange-yellow ; legs black. 



Plumage pure white, with a patch of buffy-yellow on the upper 

 part of the breast, extending up the sides towards the back ; the 

 crest composed of long subulate and canaliculate feathers 

 placed on the occiput. 



The young wants the crest, has the shafts of the quills and 

 the tips of the primaries black, the naked orbits dingy- white, 

 and bill dark ashy, soft and flexible. The patch of buff is 

 said not to appear till the second or third year. 



The Spoonbill is more or less common throughout the region. 



It breeds in Sind during October and November in company ; 

 the nests are large platforms, composed of sticks. The eggs, 

 four or five in number, are elongated ovals in shape, a good 

 deal pointed at one end ; they are white in color, more or less 

 spotted with brown or yellowish- brown. They measure 27 by 

 1-81. 



SUB-FAMILY, Anastomatinae. 



Bill very thick, stout, coarse, gaping in the middle. 



GENUS, Anastomus, Uliger. 



Bill moderately long, not deeply cleft, very thick, solid, nearly 

 straight ; mandibles nearly equal, not meeting in the middle, 

 but leaving a greater or lesser space gaping ; upper mandible 

 notched at the tip ; nostrils basal, superior ; wings moderately 

 long, with second or third quills longest, sub-equal ; tail moderate, 

 nearly even ; tibia naked for a considerable space ; tarsi long, 

 reticulated; feet rather short ; the front toes joined at the base 

 by web. 



Anastomus oscitans, Bodd. 



940. Jerdon's Birds" of India, Vol. II, p. 765 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 



Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 24 ; Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. 



IX, p. 435; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 277; 



Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 136. 

 THE SHELL IBIS. 



Length, 29 to 32 ; expanse, 50 to 54 ; wing, 16'5 to 17 ; tail, 

 7 ; tarsus, 5 '5 ; bill at front, 6*25. 



Bill dull greenish, tinged with reddish beneath ; nude orbits 

 and gular skin blackish ; irides grey or pale brown ; legs pale 

 fleshy. 



General color of the plumage pale ashy-grey, tinged with 

 reddish on the head and neck ; the winglet, primaries, secondaries, 

 tertials, scapulars, and tail, black. 



The Shell Ibis occurs sparingly throughout "the province ; in 

 most places it is only a cold weather visitant, but in Sind it 

 breeds during August. The nests are platforms composed of 



