17 
SCARLET IBIS. 
. \>. ( Ibis rubra.) 
Ib. corpore sangui?ieo, alarum apicibus nigris, Jacie rostro pedi- 
busque riibris. 
Ibis with a sanguineous body, the tips of its wings black, the 
face, beak and feet red. 
Tantalus ruber. Lin. Syst. Nat. 1. 241. Gmel. Syst. Nat. I. 
651. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 703. 
Ibis rubra. Cuv. Reg. Jnim. 1. 484. 
Numenius Brasiliensis coccineus. Briss. Orn. 5. 344. pL 29. 
f-h2. 
Guara. Raii. Syn. 104. 6. 
Le Courlis rouge. Buf. Hist. Nat. Ois. 8. 35. Buf. PL Enl. 
80, 81. 
Scarlet Ibis. Perm. Arct. Zool. 2. 361. Lath. Gen. Syn. 5, 106. 
2. ff^ils. Amer. Orn. v. v'm. pi. 41. p. Ixvi.y! 2. 
The Scarlet Ibis is twenty-two inches in length : 
its beak measuring nearly seven, and being of a pale 
red colour : the eyes are black ; the sides of the head 
beyond the eyes are bare, and of a pale red : the 
entire plumage is of a most exquisite scarlet, with the 
exception of the glossy black tips of the four external 
primaiy quills ; and the white shafts of the quills and 
of the tail feathers : the legs are pale red. The fe- 
male is less brilliant in colour. 
A highly beautiful species, inhabiting most of the 
tropical parts of America, the West Indies, and ad- 
jacent islands : it frequents the borders of the sea 
and rivers, living on small fish, insects, worms, &c. : 
it lays its eggs on the ground ; they arc of a greenish 
colour ; the young, when first hatched, are black, and 
V. XII. p. I. 2 
