3i8 



HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES. 



tinguished from the last by the longer and more slender beak, the shorter toes, 

 and the bald part of the head being confined to the crown, as well as by the 

 dark hue of the plumage. The Indian species has a triangular patch of red 

 warts on the top of the head; the general colour of the upper plumage being 

 dark brown, passing into black, with the wings and tail steel-blue, the quills dusky 

 black, and the under-parts blackish brown. An exceedingly common bird in 

 India, where it is generally known as the curlew, this ibis is usually found in the 

 open country away from water, where it feeds largely on insects. It builds on 

 high trees, laying from two to four eggs. 



WHITE SPOONBILL (i IKlt. size). 



The glossy ibis {Falcinellus igneus), which is an occasional visitant to the 

 British Islands, represents a third genus, differing from the last by the still greater 

 length of the beak, by the elongated metatarsus being covered in front with large 

 scales instead of hexagonal scales, and the longer toes. In the wings the second 

 and third quills are the longest, and the face alone is naked. This ibis is a dark- 

 coloured bird, the prevailing tints of the plumage being various shades of reddish 

 brown, with purplish reflections ; and is remarkable for its wide distribution, 

 ranging over the greater part of Europe and Asia, and also occurring in North 

 America, and rarely in the north of Africa, as well as in Australia. The genus 

 also contains other species, and has an almost cosmopolitan distribution. In 



