66 



CASSELLS BOOK OF BIRDS. 



resemble the adult bird. These birds are usually classed with the Ibises, but in our opinion their 

 proper place is among the Storks. 



THE IBIS-LIKE TANTALUS. 



The Ibis-like Tantalus {Tantalus ibis) is a most beautiful bird, with white plumage marked 

 with deep rose-red on the wing-covers, and shaded with rose-red on the back ; the quills and 



THE IBIS-LIKE TANTALUS (Tantalus ibis). 



tail-feathers are of glossy greenish black. The eye is yellowish white, the beak of a waxy yellow, the 

 foot pale red, and the bare face cinnabar-red. The young are attired in a garb of yellowish grey, 

 with throat and mantle of a darker hue. The size of this striking bird varies from thirty-four 

 to forty inches, and its breadth from sixty-two to sixty-seven inches ; the wing measures eighteen, 

 and the tail six inches. 



The Ibis-like Tantalus is an inhabitant of Central Africa, from which it occasionally but rarely 

 wanders as far as Egypt or the coast. In the region of the Blue and White Nile, on the 

 contrary, it is often numerously met with, and makes its appearance in company with the Ibis and 

 Little House Stork, remaining in Soudan during the rainy season, and again disappearing. In 





