CICONIIDrE — THE STORKS — MYOTERIA. 
79 
tarsus, much compressed, the lateral outlines elongate-conical, hut both curved upward for the 
terminal half (the gonys most so) ; depth of the hill at the hase equal to about two ninths the 
length of the culmen ; gonys considerably longer than the mandibular rami ; nostrils small, lon- 
gitudinal, in the form of an elongated ellipse, without membrane, but overhung by a sharp project- 
ing bony edge. Legs very long ; middle toe a little less than one third the tarsus ; lateral toes 
considerably shorter, the outer a little the longer ; hallux about half the length of the inner toe, 
its articulation elevated decidedly above that of the anterior toes ; middle toe united to both the 
lateral toes at the base by well-developed webs, the outer of which is the larger, these webs extend- 
ing, narrowly, along each side of the toes for their whole length ; claws short, nail-like, or flattened 
above and with broad rounded ends ; bare portion of the tibia much more than one half the tarsus ; 
legs covered everywhere and uniformly with small, longitudinal, hexagonal scales ; toes with 
transverse scutelloc for terminal half. Plumage rather hard and compact above, looser below, the 
feathers of the posterior parts with their webs somewhat decomposed ; upper greater wing-coverts 
and tertials well developed, long, broad, and compact, the latter extending beyond the tips of the 
primaries, as well as much beyond the end of the tail; primaries very stiff, their inner webs 
sinuated near the base . 1 Tail short, a little more than one third as long as the wing, even, the 
feathers broad, round-ended, and moderately still'. Occiput and upper part of the nape covered by 
a patch of rather short and sparse hair-like feathers, the rest of the head and neck bare. 
This genus, as defined above, embraces a single species belonging to tropical America, the 
iff. americana, Gmel. ex Linn. More or less nearly related Old World genera are Ephippio- 
rhynchus, Bonap. (type, Mycteria senegalensis, Shaw), Xenorhynchus, Bonap. (type, M. australis, 
Shaw), and Lcptoptilos, Less, (type, Ciconia crumenifera, Cuvier). These I have not been able 
to examine. 
Mycteria americana. 
THE JABIRU. 
Mycteria americana, Linn. S. N. ed. 10, 1758, 140, no. 1 (part 2 ) ; ed. 12, T. 17G6, 232 (part, excl. 
diagnosis, which = Euxcnura maguari). — Gmel. S. N. 1. 1788, 010. — Latii. Ind. Orn. If. 
1790, 070. — Bonap. Consp. II. 1855, 107. — Gray. Handl. III. 1871, 35, no. 10190. — Sen.. & 
Salv. Nom. Neotr. 1873, 120. — Ridgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 499. — Coues, Check List, 
2d cd. 1882, no. 054. 
Le Jabiru, de Cayenne, Buff. PI. Enl. 1770-84, pi. 817 (adult). 
American Jabiru, Lath. Synop. III. i. 1785, 22, pi. 75. 
Ciconia mycteria, Buiim. Th. Bras. III. 1856, 418. 
IIab. Tropical America, south to Buenos Ayres ; north, casually, to Southern Texas. No West 
Indian record. 
Sp. Char. Adult (No. 17105, “South America”): Plumage entirely white; bill, legs, and 
feet, with naked portion of head and neck, black ; crop, and lower portion of neck all round, 
reddish (bright red in life). Wing, 26.00 ; tail, 9.50 ; culmen, 12.30 ; depth of bill at base, 
2.50; tarsus, 11.50; middle toe, 4.20; bare portion of tibia, 6.50. Young, transition plumage 
(No. 87485, La Palma, Costa Rica, April 21, 1882 ; C. C. Nutting) : Pileum and occiput clothed 
with dusky black liair-like feathers, these longest on the occiput, where they form somewhat of a 
bushy crest ; feathered portion of lower neck light brownish gray ; rump, upper tail-coverts, and 
tail, white ; rest of upper part soft brownish gray, irregularly mixed with pure white feathers (of 
the adult livery), these most numerous among the lesser wing-coverts and anterior scapulars ; 
primaries white, tinged with gray at ends. Lower parts entirely white. Bill, all the naked 
1 The wings of the only specimen at present accessible to us are much damaged, so that the wing- 
formula and the exact character of the outline of the inner webs of the quills cannot be ascertained satis- 
factorily. 
2 Linnaeus’s diagnosis, “ Magnitudo Ciconire, alba, remigibus rectricibusque nigro-purpurascentibus,” 
will not apply at all to this species, but is obviously applicable to Euxcnura maguari (see page 77). The 
generic diagnosis, however, applies to Mycteria, as do also most of the references cited. 
