264 TANTALID^, IBISES, SPOONBILLS. GEN. 227. 



M '''■' " White Ibis. Plumage pure white, outer primaries tipped witli glossy black ; 

 bill and feet reddish; young dull brown or gray, the legs bluish, the bill 

 yellowish. Claws curved ; face and throat bare in the adult. Size of the 

 last or rather larger ; bill 7 ; tarsus 4. South Atlantic and Gulf States, 

 casually N. to Long Island (Lawrence). WiLS., viii, 43, pi. 66; Nutt., 



ii, 86; AuD., vi, 54, pi. 360; Bd., 684 alba. 



i^ ""^ Scarlet Ibis. Plumage rich scarlet, outer primaries tipped with glossy 



^ black; bill and feet reddish. Young ashy-gray, darker above, paler or 

 whitish below. Size and proportions nearly as in the last species. Tropical 

 America ; accidental in the U. S. (Louisiana ; seen at a distance, not pro- 

 cured, Audubon; Eio Grande, fragment of a specimen examined, Cones.) 

 WiLS., viii, 41, pi. 66 ; Nutt., ii, 84 ; Aud., vi, 53, pi. 359 ; Bd., 683. rubra. 



Suhfamily PLATALEIN^i:. Spoonbills. 



Bill long, perfectly flat, remarkably widened, rounded and spoon-shaped at the 

 end. Birds of this group are known at a glance, by the singuUirity of the bill ; 

 they closely resemble the foregoing in structure and habit. One genus, with five or 

 sis species of various countries. 



227. Genus PLATALEA Linnaeus. 



a % Roseate Spoonbill. In full plumage rosy-red, whitening on neck ; lesser 

 ^ wing coverts, tail coverts, and lower throat crimson ; tail bfownish-yellow ; 



legs pale carmine ; bare head yellowish-green, with a dark stripe ; bill mostly 

 grajdsh-blue. Young with the head mostly feathered, colors much less vivid 

 (no crimson) ; tail rosy ; in an early stage probably grayish. Length about 

 30; wing 14-15; tail 4-5; tarsus 4 ; bill 6-7. South Atlantic aud Gulf 

 ■ states, N. casually to the Carolinas and Natchez {Audubon); common; 

 gregarious; breeds on trees aud bushes in the wooded swamps. Wils., vii, 

 123, pi. 62; Nutt., ii, 79; Aud., ii, 72, pi. 362; Bd., 686. . . ajaja. 



Family ARDEID^. Herons, 



It is in this family that powder-down tracts (p. 4, § 6) reach their highest 

 development ; and although these peculiar feathers occur in some otlier birds, 

 there appears to be then onlj^ a single pair ; so that the presence of two or more 

 pairs is probably diagnostic of this family. In the genus Ardea and its immediate 

 allies there are three pairs, the normal number ; one ou the lower back over the 

 hips, one on the lower belly under the hips, and one on the breast, along the track 

 of the furcula. In the bitterns, the second of these is wanting. In the boat-billed 

 heron, Gancroma cochlearia, there is still another pair, over the shoulder blades. 

 There are other pterjdographic characters ; in general, the tracts (p. 5, § 9) are 

 extremely narrow, often only two feathers wide ; there arc hitcral neck tracts ; the 

 lower neck is frequently Imre behind. More obvious characters are, the complete 

 feathering of tlie head (as compared with storks, etc.) except definite nakedness of 

 the lores alone — the bill appearing to run directlj^ into the eyes; a general 

 looseness of the plumage (as compared with Limicola;) , and especially the frecpient 

 development of remarkably lengthened, or otherwise modified, feathers, constituting 



