WHITE IBIS. 179 



this I have been made aware by my generous friend Edwakd Harris, 

 Esq. I never saw one farther up the Mississippi than Memphis. 



Tantalus albus, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 242 — Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 705. 

 White Ibis, Tantalus albus, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. viii. p. 43. pi. C6. fig. 3 — 



Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 86. 

 Ibis alba, Ch. Bonaparte, Sjnops. of Birds of the United States, p. 312. 



Adult Male. Plate CCXXII. Fig. 1. 



Bill very long, slender, deeper than broad, compressed, tapering, ar- 

 cuate, obtuse at the tip. Upper mandible with the dorsal line arched in 

 its whole length, the ridge convex, broader towards the end, the sides at 

 the base nearly erect, towards the end very convex and narrow, the ridge 

 separated in its whole length from the sides by a deep narrow groove, the 

 edges inflected and sharp. Nostrils basal, dorsal, linear, direct. Lower 

 mandible nearly equal to upper, its angle very narrow, and protracted in 

 the form of a groove to the tip, the sides convex, the edges sharp, but 

 strong. 



Head small, compressed ; neck long and slender ; body slender, deeper 

 than broad ; wings rather large. Feet very long, slender ; tibiae long, 

 bare about half their length, and covered all round with hexagonal scales; 

 tarsi long, slender, anteriorly covered with numerous broad scutella, the 

 rest with hexagonal scales ; toes slender, the first much smaller, the third 

 longest, the fourth considerably shorter, the second very little shorter than 

 the fovu-th, all covered above with numerous scutella, laterally with an- 

 gular scales, beneath flattened with thick soft margins ; the anterior 

 connected at the base by membranes, of which the outer is longer ; 

 claws small, arched, compressed, obtuse, the middle one with a sharp thin 

 edge. 



Head and throat bare to beyond the eyes, as are the tibiae nearly half 

 way up. Plumage in general soft, unglossed, the feathers rather blended, 

 those of the head and neck narrow and more blended. Wings long, 

 ample, some of the secondaries as long as the longest primary when the 

 wings are closed ; third quill longest, but second and fourth almost as 

 long, first longer than fifth ; secondaries broad and rounded. Tail short, 

 slightly emarginate and rounded, of twelve rounded feathers. 



Bare parts of the head light orange-red ; bill the same, but towards 

 the tip dusky. Iris of a fine pearly blue. Legs and toes paler than the 



M 2 



