290 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES. 
majority — of the group the hinder end of the mandible is truncated, this is 
not the case with the ibises. Mostly birds of considerable size, 
the members of this order all have long and powerful wings, 
while in habits they are essentially waders and they generally 
nest in trees. Externally, herons and storks present a marked 
general similarity to cranes; but, as we shall see in the sequel, 
the latter differ in the structure of the palate, in their 
“precocious” young, and also in the conformation of the 
bones of the leg. In the cannon-bone the two outer trochlez 

LOWER END OF THE LEFT 
CANNON-BONE OF THE 
INDIAN WOOD-STORK. 
are of nearly equal length. 
THE HERON TRIBE. 
Family ARDEIDZ. 
The members of this family have the body thin and much compressed, the 
neck generally long and thin, and the beak straight, narrow, and pointed, with the 
grooves in which the nostrils are placed 
stopping short of its extremity, and its 
cutting-edges serrated at the tip.) On 
the chin the feathering generally or always 
extends considerably in advance of the line 
of the nostrils. The leg is of medium 
length, with the front surface of the 
metatarsus covered with more or less scute- 
like plates, the toes are mostly three, and the 
claw of the third one is pectinated on the 
inner side. The wings, although large, are 
somewhat blunt at the tip, owing to the 
second, third, and fourth quills being nearly 
equal in length. The short and rounded 
tail has either ten or twelve feathers; and 
there are bare spaces round the eyes and 
on the lores. The presence of a so-called 
powder-down patch of crumbly downy 
feathers on each side of the rump is 
Be et ecu eon absolutely characteristic of the family ; and 
there are no bare tracts on the sides of 
the neck. The general plumage, which is very variable in colour, is soft and 
loose; the feathers on the crown of the head, back, and upper breast being 
frequently elongated. Externally the two sexes are chiefly distinguishable by 
difference of size. In the skeleton the lower mandible is not produced posteriorly 
to its articulation with the skull; and the V-shaped furcula is characterised by 
the projection of its median process within the angle, as shown in the figure. 
With the exception of the extreme north, herons—of which there are some seventy 
species—are met with in all parts of the globe, and at almost all habitable 
1 The boat-bill is exceptional in the form of the head and beak. 


