TANTALUS. . 125 



or somewhat shield-shaped, plate ; nostrils subbasal ; tertials longer thaD 

 primaries, and with their webs compact or normal. 



Tantalus. (Page 125.) 

 b*. Adult with only the front part of the head (all round) naked, the skin not 

 scurfy or corrugated ; nostrils strictly basal ; tertials shorter than pri- 

 maries, and with their webs somewhat decomposed Pseudotantalus. 1 



a*. Bill straight to the tip or else slightly recurved toward end, the tip pointed ; 

 toes short, the middle one much less than half as long as the tarsus. (Sub- 

 family Giconiince.) 

 b 1 . Entire head and neck feathered, except lores and a narrow strip on each 

 side of throat; bill straight to the tip; tail very short and deeply 

 forked, the broad and stiffened lower tail-coverts extending far beyond 



its tip Euxenura? 



V. Entire head and neck (except occipital patch) naked ; bill enormously large, 

 slightly recurved toward tip ; tail normal Mycteria. (Page 125.) 



Genus TANTALUS Linnaeus. (Page 125, pi. XXXI., fig. 2.) 



Species. 



Adult : Plumage white, the remiges and tail glossy greenish black, with purple 

 and bronze reflections ; under wing-coverts pale rose-pink in breeding plumage ; 

 bill and naked scurfy skin of head and upper neck dull grayish dusky. Young : 

 Head covered, except anteriorly, with rather scant, somewhat " woolly," feathers, 

 the neck also entirely feathered ; plumage of head and neck grayish brown, be- 

 coming darker on occiput, where inclining to dark sooty ; rest of plumage as in 

 adult, but white duller, or more grayish (said to be wholly replaced by dusky gray 

 in very young birds), and black of remiges and tail less metallic. Immature (second 

 year ?) : Head entirely bare and scurfy as in adult, but whole neck feathered, as in 

 young ; plumage intermediate. Length 35.00-45.00, wing 17.60-19.50, culmen 6.10- 

 7.30, tarsus 7.00-8.50, middle toe 3.85-4.30. Eggs 2-3, 2.74 X 1-80, chalk- white, 

 usually more or less stained, in streaks, with pale brownish. Sab. Whole of tropical 

 and warm-temperate America, north to New York (casual), Ohio, Indiana, Wiscon- 

 sin, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California.. 188. T. loculator Linn. Wood Ibis. 



Genus MYCTERIA Linnaeus. (Page 125, pi. XXXIL, fig. 1.) 



Species. 



Adult : Plumage entirely white ; bill, naked skin of head and neck, with legs 

 and feet, black, the lower part of the naked neck encircled by a collar of bright 

 red (in life). Young : Plumage entirely, or prevailingly, brownish gray ; occiput 

 crested with a somewhat " bushy" tuft of blackish hair-like feathers. Length about 



1 Pseudotantalus Ridgw., Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. v. 1883, 550. Type, Tantalus ibis Linn. 



2 Ev.xmv.ra Ridgw., Bull. U. S. Geol. & Geog. Suit. Terr. iv. No. 1, 1878, 250. Type, Ardea maguari 

 Gmel. 



