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Show 380 AVES. is the most known species. It is very large; white; head and neck naked, and invested with a black skin, the lower part of which is reel; a few white feathers on the occiput only; beak and feet black. Found along the borders of ponds and marshes in South America, where it preys upon reptiles and fish.(l) ScoPus, Briss.(2) The Umbres at·e only distinguished from the Storks by a compress· eel beak, whose trenchant ridge is inflated near the base, and whose nostrils at·e continued by a groove, which runs parallel with the ridge to its end, the latter being slightly hooked. Only one species is known, Scop. umbretta, Enl. 796; Vieill. Galer. 250 (The Umbre), which is the size of a Crow, and of an umber colour. The occiput of the male is tufted. Found throughout Africa. HIANs, Lacep.-ANASTOMus, Illig. These birds are only separable from the Storks by a character of about equal consequence with that of the Jabiru. Their two man· dibles only come in contact at the base and point, leaving an inter· val between the middle of their edges. Even this seems to be the result of detrition, for the fibres of the horny substance of the beak, which appear to have been worn away, are very visible. They are from the East Indies. One is whitish, .!irdea pon· tice1·iana, Gm., Enl. 932; and Vieill. Gal. 251, and the other a brown-grey,-.8rdelia cotomandeliana, Sonner. It., II, 219. The quills of the wings and tail are black in both. Perh~p~ the last one may be the young of the first. A third, of an l~JSed· black, Bec-ouvert a lames; .8n. lamellige?·, Tem. Col. 236, IS r.e· markable because the stem of each of its feathers terminates m a narrow horny plate, which extends beyond the barbs. The DnoMAs, Paykull, Strongly resembles the preceding birds, having the same :eet and carriage but its compressed beak, the under part o f w1 n ·c h 1s some· what m. fl' ated at base, 1. s perfonted by oval nostr1·1 s, an d its edges join closely. Dromas ardeola, Payk., Stockh. Mem., 1805; pl. 8; Col. 36 2 · The only spec1. es known. Its p l umage I. S w h1't e ,• Pa rt of the (1) Add, Myc. smegaltms't•s , Lath., Vat•l l. Gal. 25 5, fir om"• h1'c h the Ci·rmoneiniJ, ephippirhyncha, Rupp. Av. 3, only differs in being drawn from the recentspect · and showing two tufts or bobs at the base of the beak. (2) Scopus, from :Ixo?ro,, sentinel. GRALLA TO RilE. 381 mantle and wing.s black. From the shores of the Red Sea, and of the Senegal r1 ver. ( 1) TANTALus, LIN. The Wood-Pelicans have the feet, nostrils and beak of the Stork· but t~e back of t~e beak is rounded, its point curved downwards: and shghtly emargmated on each side: a part of their head and sometimes of the neck, is destitute of feathers. ~ loculatm·, ~·; Enl. 868; Wils. VIII, lxvi, I. (The WoodPelican of America.) Is the size of a Stork, but more slender· white; quills of the wings and tail, black; beak and feet, as weli as the naked skin of the head and neck, blackish. It inhabits both Americas, arriving in each country about the rainy season and frequenting muddy waters, where it chiefly hunts for eels: It is a stupid bird, whose gait is very slow. T. ibis, L. Enl. 339. (The Wood-Pelican of Africa.) White, lightly shaded with purple on the wings; beak yellow; skin of the face red and naked. This is the bird which has long been considered by naturalists as the lbia of the ancient Egyptians, but recent researches have proved that the Ibis is a much smaller bird, of which we shall speak hereafter. The Tantalus is not even usually found in Egypt; the specimens we possess are brought from Senegal. T. leucocephalua; Tantale de Ceylan, Encyc. Method. Orn. pl. 66, fig. I; Vieill. Gal. 247 (The Wood-Pelican of Ceylon), is the largest of all, and has the stoutest beak. This beak and the skin of the face are yellow; plumage white, with black qui11s; a black cincture round the breast; long rose-coloured feathers on the rump, which are shed during the rainy season.( 2) PLATALEA, Lin.(3) The Spoonbills approximate to the Storks in the whole of their structure; but their bill, whence they derive their name, is long, flat, broad throughout, becoming widened and flattened, particularly at the end, so as to form a spatula-like disk; two shallow grooves, originating at its base, extend almost to the end, but without being (1) Dupont, Ann. des Sc. Nat. tom. IX, pl. xlv. It is the Erodia amphilensis, Salt., Voy. in Abyss., Atl. pl. xxxi. (2) Add the T. lacteus, T. Col. 352. (3) Platalea, or Platea, Latin names, sometimes used as synonymous with Peli· canU&. |