FALCINELLUS IGNEUS. 
Glossy Ibis. 
Tantalus Falcinellus, Linn., vol. i. p. 241. — Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 707. — Gmel. Linn., vol. i. p. 648. — Penn. 
Brit. ZooL, vol. ii. p. 30. 
Ibis Falcinellus, Flem. Brit. Anim., p. 102. — Selby, Brit. Orn., vol. ii. p. 56.— Jenyns, Brit. Vert., p. 194.— Gould, 
Birds of Europe, vol. iv. — Temm. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 598.^ — Yarrell, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 505. 
Tantalus igneus, Gmel. Linn., vol. i. p. 649. — ^Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 708.— Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 154. 
Falcinellus igneus, G. Ii. Gray, Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit., p. 87. 
The present species is one of the few birds inhabiting- both hemispheres ; I believe that I have seen speci- 
mens from nearly every country of the Old World, and it has also been found in every part of the vast con- 
tinent of Australia at present known to us. I have observed examples in the collection formed by Mr. 
Bynoe on the north coast, others in the collections lately transmitted to this country by the Governor of 
South Australia, and I possess others obtained in New South Wales. A careful comparison of all these 
specimens with others killed in Europe has satisfied me that they are identical. I never observed it in a 
state of nature myself, and from what I could learn from the colonists, its presence niust be regarded as acci- 
dental ; it is not a stationary species, nor are its migratory movements characterized by any degree of 
regularity. 
Head dark chestnut ; neck, breast, top of the back, upper edge of the wing and all the under surface 
rich reddish chestnut ; lower part of the back, rump, quill- and tail-feathers of a dark green, with bronze and 
purple reflexions ; orbits olive-green ; irides brown ; bill, legs and feet dull olive-brown. 
As considerable difference exists between youth and maturity, I have figured the bird in both states of 
plumage, rather more than two-thirds of the natural size. 
