CHAPTER XIV. 

 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES, Order HERODIONES. 



STORKS ASSEMBLING FOR MIGRATION. 



Agreeing with the members of the preceding order in their bridged palates, 

 the absence of basipterygoid processes on the rostrum of the skull, the tufted 

 oil-gland, and the presence of a downy stage in the helpless young, the herons and 

 their allies the storks and ibises differ very markedly in general appearance, and 

 present several important distinctive features. In the first place, their limbs 

 especially the metatarsal segment are greatly elongated; and if the toes are 

 webbed at all, the first toe is not involved. Secondly, the plumage of the 

 neck, instead of being continuous, has a large bare tract reaching upwards from 

 the spine. In all, the rather small and slit-like nostrils are placed near the root 

 of the long, powerful, and generally sharp-pointed beak ; but whereas in the 



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