174 Mr A. L. Adams on the Mtimmied Bodies of the Ibis, 



The largest claw ou one specimen measured inch. 



There can be no question that all I examined belonged 

 to one species ; and of many more noticed in various parts 

 of Egypt, I did not discover one that, in the dimensions of 

 its bill, would agree with either the black Ibis* or the glossy 

 Ibis. I think that the discrepancies just shown may be 

 fairly attributed to the effects of long domestication as well 

 as sex. The manner the sacred Ibis was permitted to range 

 over the country, especially in towns and villages, but perhaps 

 more in and about the temples, would, i-n the vast ages em- 

 braced by Egyptian histor}-, be sufficient to produce not only 

 a considerable difference in the size of the bird, but probably 

 also in its colouring ; add to this, the filthy narrow streets 

 among the mire and refuse of large mud-built cities, like 

 Thebes and Memphis, w^here, under conditions akin to what 

 is noticed with poultry, it is by no means likely that the 

 pure white of the plumage was at all preserved. Hence, 

 Herodotus f may have fastened on a variety and considered 

 it another species. His description of the white Ibis is clear 

 and distinctive, but that of the other " all black, with legs 

 like a crane,'' is not so evident ; certainly it is not applicable 

 to the glossy Ibis, and, except in the colouring, the black 

 Ibis (Ibis sacra of Temminck J) will not agree ; moreover, 

 as far as I can discover, the last named species is not a 

 native of any portion of North Africa. Cuvier § states, 

 that his specimens from Lower Egypt had larger bills than 

 those found at Thebes. The largest billed S23ecimen in my 

 collection was from the Ibis pits near Sacarah. It is likely, 

 however, that the bird did not thrive so well in the north 

 country ; indeed we know from Eoman historians, that when 

 introduced into the temple of Isis at Eome, after the con- 

 quest of Eg3^pt, it soon pined away and died. Savigny 

 states, that the Ibis religiosa is to be met with at the pre- 

 sent day on Lake Menzaleh, near the Damietta mouth of 

 the Nile ; but all inquiries I have made during and since 

 my excursion to Egypt failed to substantiate his assertion. 

 With Yierthaller,|| I am inclined to agree that the sacred 



* Falcinellus igneus, Gould, B. E., plate 47. t Euterpi, 1. xxvi. 



:|. Teram. Mas. d'Ornith., 2d Ed., 2, 596, § Ossemens fossiles. 



II Xaumannia, 1852, p. 58. 



