ANASTOMOUS. 



277 



Length. — 40 — 42 inches, expanse 71, wing 20, tail 6'25, tarsus 8*10. 



Hab. — Sind and throughout India, frequenting rivers, tanks, marshes, 

 &c. Breeds in the Province from May to August. Eggs 3 — 4, 

 glossless, dull white, with a thick compact shell. 



Sub-Family PLATALEIN^,— Spoohbills. 



BiU flat, spathalate, long and rounded at the tip. 



Gen. Platalea. — Lin. 



Bill thin, flat, dilated and rounded at the tip (spathulate) other- 

 wise as in Tantalus ; toes connected by a small membrane extending 

 as far as the second joint of the outer and the first joint of the inner 

 one. 



Platalea leucorodia, Lin.; P. ^.405; Oould. B.Eur, pi. 286; 

 Jerd. B. Ind. iii. p. 763 ; Murray, Rdbh., ZooL, ^c, Simd. p. 229. — 

 The Spoonbill. 



Plumage pure white, except a bufiy yellow patch on the upper 

 breast, extending sometimes on to the back; orbitar skin orange 

 yellow, also the skin of the gullet; head crested; bill black, spotted 

 or barred with yellowish ; the tip yellowish during winter ; iridea 

 blood red ; legs black. 



Length. — 31 to 36 inches, wing 14 to 16, tail 6-25 to 6'5, bill at 

 front 7 to 8-5. 



Young. — With the shafts and tips of primaries black. 



Hah. — Sind, Beloochistan, Persia, Afghanistan and throughout 

 India, frequenting rivers, lakes, &c. 



Sub-Family ANASTOMIN^. 



Bill thick, stout, gaping in the middle. 



Gen. Anastomous.— IZ%er. 



Bill long, curved, thick, solid, gaping in the middle, compressed at 

 the sides ; tail nearly even ; nostrils basal, at the edge of the apper 

 mandible ; tarsi reticulated; tibia naked for half its length; toes webbed 

 at the base. 



Anastomous OSCitans, 5oc?(?. ; P. E. 982; Jerd. B. Lnd. iii. p. 765, 

 No. 940; Str. F. iv. 212; Murray, Hdbk., ZooL, 8fc., Sind, p. 229. — 

 The Shell Ibis. 



Young. — Plumage light grey, darker on the head and neck, the fea- 

 thers on the latter hair-like ; upper back, scapulars, primaries and 

 secondaries, also the winglet and tail black, with purple reflections ; 

 nude skin of the chin and front of the eyes greenish black ; in a later 

 stage of plumage the head, sides of the face, nape and neck behind 

 are dusky brown, the feathers short; neck in front, breast, lower parts, 

 back, wing-coverts and tail pure white, the primaries and secondaries, 

 also ; their shafts black, also the shafts of the winglet ; the first three 

 primaries broadly margined with black on their outer and inner webs, 

 their tips black ; the inner webs of the primaries margined only to 



