ANASTOMUS OSCITANS. 



(THE SHELL-IBIS.) 



Arclea oscitans, Bodd. Tabl. PL Enl. p. 55 (1783). 



Anastomus oscitans (Bodd.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 276 (1849) ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. 



iii. p. 765 (1864) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 115 ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 



1872, p. 479; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 31, et 1875, p. 404; Hume, Nests and Eggs, iii. 



p. 630 (1875); id. Str. Feath. 1879, p. 114 (List of Ind. B.) ; Bingham, Str. Feath. 



1876, p. 212. 

 Le bee oitvert, Buff. PL Enl. 932 ; Shell-eater, sportsmen in India. Gungla, Ghongal, Dokar 



(Behar), Hind. ; Tonte bhanga, Bengal. ; Kha-yoo-tsoot, Arrakan (Blyth) ; Gulu konga, 



Telugu ; Natte-kuti-nareh, Tamils in India : all these names having references to shells 



(Jerdon) ; Karunary, Tamils in Ceylon. 

 Gombelle-koka, lit. " Snail-Koka," Sinhalese. 



Adult male and female (Ceylon). Length 31-0 to 32-5 inches; wing 16-0 to 17-0, expanse 59-0; tail 6-0 to 7 - ; 

 tarsus 6-0 to 6-3 ; bare tibia 4-5 ; middle toe 3 - 4 to 3-6, claw 0-5 ; hind toe 1/4 ; bill to gape 6-0 to 6-1, along 

 culmen 6 - 5 ; space in anterior portion of bill 04 in height, extending 3-0 from tip towards gape. — Male (Fur- 

 reedpore). Wing 16-75, expanse 59-50 ; tail 7*5 ; tarsus 6-25 ; bill from gape 0-4, at front 6-3 (Grvpps). 



Iris grey ; bill reddish, patched on the sides with olivaceous ; in some grey, reddish at the base and along the culmen ; 

 loral skin dull blue ; bare skin at base of lower mandible greenish leaden : legs and feet fleshy pink or reddish 

 mingled with yellowish. The iris appears to be brown in some, according to Indian observers ; but I have 

 always found it grey. 



Breeding-plumage (Ceylon). Head, neck, back, rump, and wing-coverts greyish white, paling on the underparts into 

 pure white ; interscapidary region and upper scapulars tinged with grey ; longer scapulars, tertials, quills, 

 primary-coverts, winglet, and tail black, with purplish aud green reflections ; occiput faintly tinged with rosy ; 

 axillaries and under wing-coverts pure white. 



This plumage I take to be worn only by fully adult birds. During the breeding-season in the south-east of Ceylon 

 I have shot specimens in the so-called winter plumage, which consists in the white portions being sullied with 

 leaden grey, darkest on the occiput and interscapular region. This dress, I apprehend, is worn by birds not fully 

 adult while breeding. 



Young nestling. Iris brown ; bill dark green ; naked skin about the chin and base of the bill and the orbits greenish 

 black ; legs brown, tinged with pinky red. Bill 3-2 to 3-4 inches from gape. {Bingham.) 



Plumage " light grey, a little darker on the head and neck, where the feathers are short and the webs hair-like ; the 

 upper back, winglet, primaries, secondaries, tertials, scapulars, and tail black, shot with green and purple 

 reflections." (Bingham.) 



Immature, about six months old (Ceylon). Bill to gape 4-6 inches ; tarsus 5-5. No worn space in the mandibles. 

 Bill dark leaden ; head, neck, underparts, and wing-coverts grey, the head and nape washed with brown, the 

 interscapular region and back brown ; scapulars brownish black ; quills, tertials, and tail black, the secondaries 

 with a purple and green lustre. 



Obs. There is never any trace of the worn space in the mandibles when the bird is young, and, according to Lieut. 



Bingham, it is not until the bird is 4 or 5 months old that the space begins to show itself. 

 Another species (Anastomus lamelligerus) inhabits Africa, and is remarkable for the singular lamellated structure of the 



feathers of the chest and belly. The plumage is black, illumined with green and purple ; chest dark brown. 



"Wing 14-75 to 16 inches ; tarsus 4-75 to 5-84 ; bill at front 6-15 to 6-84." (Heuglin.) 



