i8o 



CHARACTERS OF VERTEBRATE ANIMALS 



was venerated and embalmed by the ancient Egyptians, and 

 which, with its long curved beak and bald black head and neck 

 contrasting with the generally white plumage, is a striking object. 



Its head-quarters are 

 now the upper waters 

 of the Nile, from which 

 it ranges with dimin- 

 ishing numbers to 

 Cape Colony. A 

 beautifully coloured 

 form is the Scarlet 

 Ibis {Guara rubra) of 

 tropical America and 

 the West Indies, in 

 which the plumage is 

 bright scarlet except 

 the wing-tips, which 

 are black. 



The widely distri- 

 buted Spoonbills are 

 closely related to the 

 Ibises, but are distin- 

 guished by the peculiar form of the broad straight beak, which 

 widens out into a rounded end. The White Spoonbill {Plataled 

 leucolodia) is a common European bird which also ranges into 

 North Africa and eastward to India and North China. It is but 

 rarely seen in our own country. The beak and legs are black 

 and the plumage prevailingly white. 



Fig. 123. — African Ibis {Ibis j3LthioJ)ica) 



Order 15. — Pelicans and Cormorants (Steganopodes) 



This order of swimming birds includes short-legged forms 

 in which all four toes are well developed and connected together 

 by a web. The wings and tail are large, and the organization is 

 adapted for the pursuit of fish. Four groups are here included: 

 Pelicans, Cormorants, Frigate- Birds, and Tropic- Birds. 



Pelicans. — These well-known birds are distinguished by their 

 enormous flattened beaks, to thei lower half of which is attached 

 a large pouch in which fish can be stored. " Feeding time " 

 with the Pelicans is one of the favourite spectacles of interest 



