160 The Stork-like Birds 



THE IBISES 



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(Family Ibididcs) 



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The Ibises are medium or large sized wading birds most closely related to the 

 Storks, but distinguished from them at once by the bill, which is rather slender, 

 more or less cylindrical throughout, and evenly bent downward after the manner 

 of the Curlews. The bill is also rather soft, except at the tip, and the nostrils are 

 slit-like, and placed in a deep, narrow groove which extends quite to the end 

 of the bill. The legs are thick and strong, of moderate length, and the toes long, 

 the front ones being connected by a short web, while the claws are long and 

 slender. The wings are rather long and pointed, and the tail, of twelve feathers, 

 is short and square-cut at the end. As Ridgway has said, "A great diversity 

 of form and plumage is to be seen among the various species, some being trim 

 and graceful in their build, and others uncouth, with Vulture-like head and 

 neck, some plain in colors, while others are among the most brilliant of 

 birds." 



The Ibises enjoy a wide geographical distribution, although most abundant 

 in the intertropical regions. They are also a very old group, as some three or 

 four fossil forms have been described from the middle Tertiary of England, France, 

 Patagonia, etc. About thirty living species are known, these being distributed 

 among some twenty or more genera. The New World is the richest in forms, 

 possessing more than a third of the known species, while of the Old World species 

 Africa possesses six or seven, Asia about eight, and Madagascar and Australia 

 two each. 



Sacred Ibis. The oldest known, and in many respects the most interesting 

 and the one about which clusters so much of ancient history and mythology, is, 

 of course, the Sacred Ibis (Ibis cetkiopica) of the Egyptians. As it was the 

 "emblem of Shott, the scribe or secretary of Osiris, whose duty it is to write down 

 and recount the deeds of the deceased," it is constantly to be seen carved in 

 various forms on the ancient monuments, and its mummified bodies are found 

 abundantly within the temples. It is about twenty-five inches in length, and has 

 the entire head and throat bare and black in color. The plumage is pure white 

 above and below, the secondaries being loose, dependent, ornamental plumes, 

 with purple edges. Although once undoubtedly abundant in Egypt, it is now so 

 rare that there has been expressed doubt if it was really entitled to be ranked as a 

 native of that country. It is a native of Africa generally, especially the Nile 

 basin, and follows down as the river rises, arriving in Egypt about midsummer, 

 and retiring before winter, the season in which most Europeans visit the country, 

 hence thought by them to be absent. 



Closely allied to the Sacred Ibis is Bernier's Ibis (/. bernieri) of Madagascar, a 

 smaller bird, with a less extent of naked space on the neck and ashy instead of 

 purple-edged plumes. Still another related species, the Black-headed Ibis 

 (/. melanocephala), is found in India and near-by countries, and this gives place 

 to the Australian White Ibis (7. molucca). 



