ARDEIDyE. 



321 



Inhabits India, Length from the tip of the beak 

 to that of the tail three feet six inches : beak pale 

 red : head tumid, with soft feathers : the feathers of 

 the tail, quills, scapulars, and breast, acute at the tip ; 

 those of the last long and dependent : the secondary 

 quills very long : sides chesnut black. 



GENUS CCCXXI — BALEARICA, Brisson. 

 Generic character: nide Steph. v. xi.p. 534 — 536. 



Sp. ] . Ba. Pavonina. 



Anthropoides Pavonina. Steph. i\ p, 536.— Africa. 



GENUS CCCXXIL— GRUS, Pallas. CRANE, 

 Generic character : vide Steph. v. xi. p. 523. 



GENUS CCCXXIIL— CARIAMA, Brisson. 

 Generic character : vide Staph, v, xii. \. p. 274. 



FAMILY n.~ARDIED^. 



Rostrum elongatum, validiusculum , diversum: alse elongatce: 

 pedes elongati, tetradactyli, digiti basi plus minusvc coaliti, aut 

 semipalmati ; pollex validusy humi incinnbenSy aut prima pha- 

 lange solo insistens. 



Beak elongated J somewhat stout, various in form ; the voings 

 elongated: legs elongated, with four toes, the latter more or 

 less united at the base^ or semipalmated ; the hind-toe stout, 

 resting on the ground;, or the first joint only incumbent. 



The Ardeidae are usually large birds ; they vary 

 greatly in the form of the beak, and have mostly the 

 thighs naked above the knees : they reside in marshy 

 situations, and feed upon frogs and small fishes. 



VOL. XIV, p. I. 21 



