ON THE IBIS. 307 



forms one of the most beautiful ornaments, and 

 we have represented it in PL iv. 



It is likely that this mummy must have been 

 that of a bird kept in a state of domesticity in the 

 temples, for its left humerus has been broken and 

 joined again. It is probable that a wild bird, 

 whose wing had been broken, would have perished 

 before it had healed, from its being unable to pur- 

 sue its prey, or to escape from its enemies. 



This skeleton puts it in our power to deter- 

 mine, without any uncertainty, the characters and 

 proportions of the bird. We see clearly that it 

 was in all points a true curlew, a little larger than 

 the common curlew of Europe, but having the 

 beak thicker and shorter. The following is a 

 comparative table of the dimensions of the two 

 birds, taken, for the ibis, from the skeleton of the 

 mummy of Thebes, and for the curlew, from a 

 skeleton which previously existed in our anatomi- 

 cal galleries. We have added those of parts of 

 the Saccara ibises, which we succeeded in obtain- 

 ing entire. 



