SCOLOPACEOUS COURLAN. SOI 
is the longest of all, being, however, but little longer than the 
fourth. 
The feathers of the neck are short, and rather narrow; those 
of the body and wing-coverts are rounded on their margins, 
and soft and dense; the inferior are somewhat loose on their 
borders. There is no naked place on the sides of the breast, 
as in the herons. ‘The general colour of the courlan is a deep 
chocolate-brown, or fuscous sooty hue, reigning all over the 
bird: the feathers are, however, paler on their margins, and 
there is on each from the base along the middle, includ- 
ing the shaft, with the exception of the tip, a large, broad, 
lanceolate, pure white spot. (In the Jbis guarauna, the 
white occupies the margin instead of the middle of the 
feathers.) This white spot is larger in proportion to the size 
of the feather, so that it is more conspicuous on the wing- 
coverts, both upper and under, especially as on the back, not 
reaching to the tip, it is mostly concealed by the overlapping 
of the feathers: on the larger coverts, however, it consists 
of a mere streak, as well as on a few of the lower tail-coverts 
and femorals. Generally speaking, however, these parts, as 
well as the rump, upper and lower tail-coverts, outer large 
wing-coverts, vent, all the quills, and tail-feathers, are un- 
spotted, and of a bright chocolate-brown, with even a greenish 
gloss, darker, and with purplish reflections on the quills and 
tail: on the contrary, on the head and neck all round, the 
brown colour is paler and duller, and as the feathers are on 
these parts much smaller, the more extended white longitu- 
dinal spots are more closely set, producing a thickly striated 
appearance. On the crown and cheeks the white is, more- 
over, neither so pure nor well defined, which, together with the 
much less intense ground colour, gives these parts a rufous 
grey look: the throat is entirely whitish. 
The sexes present no difference, and the young soon put on 
the adult plumage. 
