44 GRALLATORES. CICONIA. STORK. 
lated feathers, and four black ones. The neck and under 
parts of the body pure bluish-grey. Back, wings, and 
tail, of the same colour, but darker ; the feathers of the 
back having a black streak running down their centres. 
Wing-coverts spotted with white. Train bluish-grey. 
Genus CICONIA. STORK. 
GENERIC CHARACTERS. 
Bill long, straight, strong, thick, subconic, pointed, much 
higher than wre ; culmen cultrated ; the angle of the un- 
der mandible rather ascending ; the upper mandible gently 
descending to its end, which is poited and sharp. Mandi- 
bles of equal length ; the upper deeper than the lower ; tomia 
straight, entire; those of the upper mandible bending slightly 
inwards. Nostrils linear, egg-shaped, at a short distance 
from the base of the bill, pierced in the horny substance. 
Tongue very short, narrow, entire, placed in the gape. 
Orbits naked. 
Legs long; part of the tibia naked. Feet four-toed ; front 
of the tarsi reticulated, or covered with hexagonal scales ; 
toes of mean length; middle toe one-third of the length of 
the tarsus, and joined to the exterior one by a large mem- 
brane, reaching as far as the second, and to the interior as 
far as the first joint. First joints of the toes covered with 
hexagonal scales; the remainder imperfectly scutellated. 
Hind toe short, incumbent, articulated opposite to the base 
of the interior toe. Claws short, blunt, entire. Tail equal, 
of mean length, and composed of twelve feathers. 
Wings long, with the first quill shorter than the second, 
and the third and fourth the longest. In plumage, the up- 
per parts of the body are covered with close-set feathers, 
truncated at their ends. 
My readers will observe that these generic characters are 
not applicable to all the species of the genus Ciconia of 
