456 WOOD IBIS. 



as far south as Cayenne, Brazil, and various parts of South 

 America. In the United States it is migratory ; but has 

 never, to my knowledge, been found to the north of Virginia. 

 Its favourite haunts are watery savannas and inland swamps, 

 where it feeds on fish and reptiles. The French inhabitants 

 of Louisiana esteem it good eating. 



The known species have heen limited to about five in number, natives 

 of America, Africa, and India. The genus Ibis is more extensive ; they 

 are spread over all the world, and among themselves present very con- 

 siderable modifications of form. Those of Northern America are three — 

 the two now figured, and the 7. falcinellus of Europe, first noticed by 

 Mr Ord as a native of that country in the Journal of the Academy, 

 under the name of Tantalus Mexicanus, and afterwards recognised by 

 the Prince of Musignano as the bird of Europe. By Wagler, in his 

 " Systema Avium," they are put into three divisions, distinguished by the 

 scutellation of the tarsi, and the proportion of the toes. The face is 

 often bare ; in one or two the crown is developed into a shield, as in 

 I. calva ; in a few the head and neck are unplumed, I. sacra and 

 melanoccphalus ; and in some, as that of Europe, the face and head are 

 nearly wholly clothed, and bear close resemblance to the curlews. They 

 are all partly gregarious, feed in small groups, and breed on trees in 

 most extensive communities. They include birds well known for many 

 curious particulars connected with the history and superstitions of 

 nations, and gorgeous from the pureness and decided contrast or dazzling 

 richness of their plumage. To the former will belong the sacred ibis 

 of antiquity, whose bodies, in the ivords of a versatile and pleasing writer, 

 " from the perfection of an unknown process, have almost defied the 

 ravages of time ; and, through its interventions, the self-same indivi- 

 duals exist in a tangible form which wandered along the banks of the 

 mysterious Nile in the earliest ages of the world, or, ' in dim seclusion 

 veiled,' inhabited the sanctuary of temples, which, though themselves 

 of most magnificent proportions, are now scarcely discernible amid the 

 desert dust of an unpeopled wilderness." To the others will belong the 

 brilliant species next described, no less remarkable for its unassuming 

 garb in the dress of the first year, and the richly plumaged glossy ibis. 

 The last-mentioned bird is more worthy of notice, holding a prominent 

 part in the mythology of the Egyptians, and occasionally honoured by 

 embalmment ; it is also of extensive geographical distribution, being 

 found in India, Africa, America, Europe, and an occasional stray 

 individual finding a devious course to the shores of Great Britain. A 

 specimen has occurred on the Northumbrian coast within this month. 

 —Ed. 



