72 
STORKS AND WOOD IBISES 
look as black as ravens, but their flight is crane-like, and walking or 
wading they have the dignified pose of the cranes and herons. No 
doubt the name black curlew comes from their curved bill, but they 
are neither cranes nor curlews. According to Goss, they feed on 
crawfish, snails, minnows, frogs, and insects. Vernon Bailey. 
FAMILY CICONIIDiE : STORKS AND WOOD IBISES. 
KEY TO GENERA. 
1. Bill curved downward and blunt at tip. Tantalus, p. 72. 
1'. Bill inclined upward and sharp at tip. Mycteria, p. 72. 
GENUS TANTALUS. 
188. Tantalus loculator Linn. Wood Ibis. 
Adults. — Head and upper neck naked and, except for a smooth square 
patch on crown, scurfy. Plumage mainly white; wing quills and tail 
greenish and purplish black; under wing coverts pinkish in breeding 
plumage. Young: whole head and neck except face covered with green¬ 
ish brown feathers, darker on back of head; rest of plumage dull whitish. 
Length: 35-45, wing 17.60-19.50, bill 6.10-7.30. 
Distribution. —Southern United States from Ohio, Colorado, Utah, and 
southwestern California south to Argentina; casually north to Wisconsin 
and New York. 
Nest. — In trees, a loosely arranged platform of sticks, lined with moss 
or other soft material. Eggs: usually 3, dull white. 
Goss says the wood ibis is a common resident of all the Gulf 
states, and is found on the Colorado and Gila rivers in the vicinity of 
Yuma. During the breeding season the ibises assemble in large 
flocks, but they scatter more or less afterwards. Their food consists 
of fish, crabs, frogs, young alligators, and the small forms of life 
that inhabit shallow lagoons and pools on overflowed land. 
GENUS MYCTERIA. 
[189.] Mycteria americana Linn. Jabiru. 
Size of a large crane ; legs long, bill enormous and inclined upwards at 
tip. Adults: head and neck naked except for a hair-like crest on occiput; 
bill, head, and legs black ; skin of lower neck red in life ; plumage 
white. Young: Plumage mainly brownish gray. Length : about 4| feet; 
wing 24.50-27.00, bill 9.75-13.00, tarsus 11.25-12.50. 
Distribution. — Tropical America; north casually to southern Texas. 
FAMILY ARDEID51: HERONS, EGRETS, BITTERNS. 
KEY TO GENERA. 
1. Tail feathers 10, short and very soft. 
2. Plumage mainly striped. Botaurus, p. 73. 
2'. Plumage not mainly striped, back black or brown . Ardetta, p. 74. 
V. Tail feathers 12, normal. 
