266 



IBIS. 



for these birds being- occasionally found in the southern parts of Eng- 

 land, and much more rarely in the northern parts, or in Scotland. 



The green variety is about twenty-two inches in length ; breadth 

 two feet nine inches ; weight about eighteen ounces ; the bill is nearly 

 four inches and a quarter in length to the gape, moderately curved, 

 and of a bluish lead-colour; the sides of the upper mandible flesh- 

 colour, fading into a purplish flesh-colour in a few days after being 

 dead ; from the nostrils, which are lower, a furrow continues to the end 

 of the bill on each side ; between the eyes and the bill, the skin is 

 black ; irides dusky ; the head, neck, and all the under parts, dusky, 

 more or less varied with changeable tints of bronze-colour, particularly 

 on the breast ; the throat, and sides of the head minutely speckled with 

 white, with a white feather or two on the upper part of the neck before, 

 and above the eyes are several of the same colour, tending obliquely to 

 the hind part of the head, forming an irregular line of white spots ; the 

 back and wings, including the scapulars and quills, resplendent with 

 changeable dark glossy green, changing to violet and purple in different 

 points of view ; the tail consists of twelve feathers a little forked when 

 closed, and is of the same glossy colour as the wings ; the legs bluish- 

 black, three inches and a half bare above the knee ; toes the same 

 colour, the middle one upwards of two inches, independent of the claw ; 

 the hind one an inch, and so placed as to bear its whole length on the 

 ground ; the claws dusky, not much bent, the middle one brought to 

 a sharp edge on the inside, and sometimes slightly but irregularly 

 serrated ; the female is a little less, weighing about sixteen ounces ; 

 length twenty-one inches, and is distinguished from the male by having 

 a greater variety of white spots about the head and neck, and four 

 transverse white bars on the upper part of the neck before. The variety 

 called the Glossy Ibis, is considerably larger than the above ; being de- 

 scribed by Latham as nearly two feet in length ; the bill five inches, 

 smooth, round, much bent, colours green, fading to olive when dead ; 

 the general colour of the plumage, a black glossy green ; the feathers 

 slightly fringed with white, which gives the bird a gilded appearance 

 when the sun shines upon it. In the Bay Ibis, there is that little 

 superiority in size, which is natural between the old and the young of 

 the same species, particularly in the bill, which in this variety is five 

 inches long, and deeper in proportion at the base ; the general appear- 

 ance of the plumage, which in the first is a glossy bronze-colour, in 

 this fades into a rusty brown, without gloss ; the legs and toes dusky 

 brown like the bill; the former measuring three inches and three 



