390 IBISIN.E. 



twigs. The eggs, four or five in number, are of an oval shape, 

 of a creamy-white color when fresh, but soon get stained as 

 incubation proceeds. 



They measure 2'24 by 1'6. 



SUB-FAMILY, Ibisinse. 



Bill long, thin, curved. 



GENUS, Ibis, Bonap. 



Bill very long, moderately stout, thickened at the base, some- 

 what square, arched more or less throughout ; the upper mandible 

 with a long lateral groove produced to the tip ; nostrils basal, 

 narrow ; wings long, the second quill longest, or the third and 

 fourth sub-equal to it ; tail short, even, of twelve feathers ; tarsus 

 moderate ; toes long, hallux resting on the ground ; head and 

 neck of the adult devoid of feathers ; scapulars and tertials 

 decomposed, lengthened ; feathers of the breast elongated ; 

 plumage white. 



Ibis melanocephala, Lath. 



941. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 768 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 25 ; Butler, Deccan, Stray Feathers, 

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

 p. 278 ; Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 136. 



THE WHITE IBIS. 



Length, 29 ; expanse, 45 ; wing, 14 ; tail, 5'75 ; tarsus, 4 ; 

 bill at front, 6. 



Bill black ; irides red-brown ; legs black. 



Head and neck nude, black ; rest of the plumage white, the 

 quills black with green reflections ; scapulars and tertials with 

 the barbs disunited and open, lengthened, of a dull inky-purple 

 or quaker-grey ; winglet, primary coverts, under wing-coverts 

 and axillaries, creamy- white. 



The young have the head and neck more or less clothed with 

 short white feathers, which gradually fall off, and they want the 

 lengthened scapulars. 



The White Ibis is more or less common throughout the district. 

 It is probably a permanent resident in most places ; it breeds in 

 Sind during October, November, and December. 



GENUS (Geronticus) Inocotis. 



Bill more slender and longer than in the last ; tarsi robust, 

 covered anteriorly with hexagonal scales ; toes somewhat short, 

 stout ; top of the head only nude ; plumage dark ; wings long 

 ample. 



Inocotis papillosus, Tern. 



942. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 769 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 24 ; Butler, Deccan, Stray Fea- 

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

 p, 278, 



