310 ON THE IBIS. 



shorter, and sensibly thicker in proportion, some- 

 what compressed at its hase, and marked on each 

 side with a groove, which, proceeding from the 

 nostril, is continued to the extremity ; while, in 

 the curlew, there is a similar groove, which dis- 

 appears before arriving at the middle of the beak ; 

 the colour of the beak is more or less black ; the 

 head, and the two upper thirds of the neck, are 

 entirely destitute of feathers, and the skin of 

 these parts is black. The plumage of the body, 

 wings, and tail, is white, with the exception of 

 the ends of the large quills of the wing, which 

 are black ; the four last secondary quills have the 

 barbs singularly long, attenuated, and hanging 

 down over the ends of the wings, when the latter 

 are folded ; their colour is a beautiful black, with 

 violet reflections. The feet are black, the legs 

 are thicker, and the toes much longer in propor- 

 tion than those of the curlew ; the membranes be- 

 tween the bases of the toes are also more ex- 

 tended; the leg is entirely covered with small 

 polygonal, or what is called reticulated scales, and 

 the base of the toes itself has only similar scales ; 

 while, in the curlew, two-thirds of the leg, and 

 the whole length of the toes, are scutulate, that 

 is to say, furnished with transverse scales. There 

 is a reddish tint under the wing, toward the top 

 of the thigh, and on the anterior large wing co- 

 verts ; but this tint appears to be an individual 

 character, or the result of an accident, for it does 



