484 MR. D. G. ELLIOT ON THE IBIDIN/E. [Jline 5, 



archipelago ; ard eight of these, or a little over half, are natives of 

 the Ethiopian region. 



In reviewing the geographical distribution of the members of the 

 Ibidinfe, commencing in the far east, and treating those species met 

 with in the Australian regon, it will be found that the great continent 

 of Australia possesses three species, viz. /. cethiopicn, Carphibis spi- 

 nicoUis, and FalcineUus igneus. The second of these has not been 

 obtained as yet elsewhere, although it is stated to have been seen 

 once in New Guinea. The first of the species above named (/. 

 cBfhiopica) has quite an extended range, as it apparently is identical 

 with the African species, and, besides Australia, it is found also in 

 Ceram and Salwatty of the Austro-Malayan division of the Austra- 

 lian region. Anciently this species was a dweller in Egypt, as it 

 was there worshipped, and the mummied remains are found in great 

 numbers ; but there is no authentic record of its having been seen in 

 that land in modern times. 



Another great division in which these birds are found is the 

 Oriental region ; and here we see that in India, as usually under- 

 stood, the Geronticus papillosus and I. melanocephala are distributed 

 generally. The last-named species is also a native of Ceylon and 

 Java of the Indo-Malayan islands ; and the Graptocephalus davisoni 

 is an inhabitant of the Tenasserim Provinces. 



In the Indo-Chinese subregion the extraordinary Thaumatibis 

 gigantea is found in Cochin China, and Graptocephalus davi- 

 soni in Siam and Cambodja. In the Palsearctic region the 

 Nipponin nippon is found in Siberia, Northern China, and Japan, 

 and also in Formosa of the Oriental region. 



The Ethiopian region, the next in order, has the I, cethiopica 

 distributed generally south of the Great Sahara. In Abyssinia the 

 Bostrychia carunculata and Comatibis comata are found, the latter 

 species extending its range northward to Algeria in the Palsearctic 

 region, its limits being apparently the northern edge of the great 

 desert. Proceeding southwards along the east coast, the Geronticus 

 calvus is met with in the vicinity of the Orange river; and this 

 species seems to go quite across the continent, as it is also a native 

 of Damara Land on the west coast. On this side also the Hage- 

 dashia chalcoptera ranges from the Gambia in the north to the 

 Cape colony ; and the Lampribis olivacea is met with on the Guinea 

 coast and on Prince's Island. 



Madagascar (Malayan subregion) has three species, I. melano- 

 cephala, Lophotibis cristata, and jf. bernieri. The last two are not 

 found elsewhere, while the /. berniei-i is very closely allied to the /. 

 ccthiopica. One other species remains to be noticed, the Falcinellus 

 igneus, which is found nearly everywhere throughout the eastern 

 hemisphere. 



In the Nearctic region five species of Ibis occur ; but of them one 

 is only an accidental visitor. The Falcinellus igneus is met with in 

 the Alleghany subregion, occasionally as far north as Massachusetts. 

 F. guarauna is found in the middle province of the United States and 

 northward to the Columbia river, while F. thalassinus is met with on 

 the Pacific coast to California. The Eudocimas ruber is only a 



