2 
WHITE-HEADED TANTALUS. 
towards the base, and slightly notched on each side. 
Part of the head and neck is generally divested of 
feathers : the legs are very long, and a considerable 
portion of the thighs is naked. 
These are solitary birds, and like the Herons, they 
delight in marshy places, where they may be observe 
standing, for a long time, upon one leg, with their 
necks bent back, and their beaks resting on their 
breasts : their chief food consists of reptiles and small 
fishes. 
WHITE-HEADED TANTALUS. 
(Tantalus leucoceplialus.) 
Ta. cinereo-albiis, rostro facieque Jtavis ; tectricibus nigris albo- 
marginatis ; remigibus rectricibusque nigris; nropygio rosea. 
Grey-white Tantalus, with the beak and face yellow, the wing- 
coverts black, edged with white, the quills and tail-feathers 
black, the rump rose-coloured. 
Tantalus leucocephalus. LafI/. Ind. Oni. ii. 706. Gniel. Si/st. 
Nat. i. 641). 
Le Tantale de Ceylon. Ciiv. Beg. Anim. i. 481. 
White-headed Ibis. Lath. Gen. Syn. 5. 116. 15. Gen. Si/n. 
Sup. i. 240. 
The White-headed, or Ceylonese Tantalus, is the 
largest of the genus, and is also the most remark- 
able for the great size of its beak, that alone mea- 
suring upwards of a foot in length : the prevailing 
colour of the plumage is greyish white : the wing- 
coverts are black, edged with white : the quills and 
tail are black : the rum}) and tail-coverts are pink : 
