Part 60

Body usually compressed; neck and legs very long; plumage full and soft; bill long, normally straight, wedge-shaped, and pointed, but in Ibididæ blunt and decurved, in Plataleidæ broadly spatulate; nostrils near base of bill, elongate; hind toe insistent or but slightly elevated. Nest made of sticks and twigs usually placed in a tree or bush; eggs three to five, blue and unspotted; young helpless at birth.

Suborders.

a1. Sides of upper mandible with a deep, narrow groove extending from nostrils to tip. ... Plataleæ (p. 157) a2. Sides of upper mandible without any groove.

b1. Claws broad and flat, that of middle toe not pectinate. ... Ciconiæ (p. 159) b2. Claws narrow and arched, that of middle toe with its inner edge distinctly pectinate. ... Ardeæ (p. 161)

Suborder PLATALEÆ.

Families.

a1. Bill slender, nearly cylindrical, decidedly decurved for nearly its whole length. ... Ibididæ (p. 157) a2. Bill very broad, flattened, greatly widened toward the tip. ... Plataleidæ (p. 158)

Family IBIDIDÆ.

Bill long, compressed, and curved downward, its tip blunt and rounded; on each side of culmen a longitudinal groove in the basal portion of which the nostril is pierced.

Genus PLEGADIS Kaup, 1829.

Characters same as those given for the Family.

131. PLEGADIS AUTUMNALIS (Linnæus).

GLOSSY IBIS.

Tringa autumnalis Linnæus in Hasselquist, Reise Palæstina (1762), 306. Plegadis falcinellus Oates, Bds. Brit. Burmah (1883), 2, 271; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 29; Hand-List (1899), 1, 187; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 102; Mearns, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. (1905), 18, 89; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 31.

Mindanao (Mearns). China, Africa, Jamaica, Australia, eastern United States, southern Europe to India.

"Adult.--Above black, with varying glossy reflections, either bronzy purple or green; upper mantle deep maroon-chestnut, as also lesser wing-coverts and scapulars, the latter having bronzy tips; median and greater coverts duller and more oily green with bronze or steel-green reflections; alula, primary-coverts, and quills entirely glossy green, secondaries with purplish reflections; lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail all black, with various reflections of purple and oily or bronzy green; head and neck all round, as well as under surface of body deep maroon-chestnut, somewhat lighter on the chest and breast; forehead and fore part of crown glossy green, as also base of cheeks and a slight shade below eye; under tail-coverts, under wing-coverts, and axillars black, with metallic reflections of green and purple, the quill-lining being similarly glossed. 'Bill and feet dark brownish olive, iris brown.' (Guillemard.) Length, 558; culmen, 132; wing, 284; tail, 99; tarsus, 107.

"Female.--Similar to the male in plumage, but smaller in size and with a somewhat smaller bill.

"The winter plumage would appear to be adopted after the bird has left for its winter quarters, as a male killed in Celebes on August 20 is still in full red plumage. The winter plumage of the adults appears to consist in the entire loss of the chestnut plumage of the head, back, and scapulars; the rest of the plumage remains metallic with the same varying shades of green and purple, but the wings are rather more bronzy and the wing-coverts brighter metallic green. The head and neck are entirely streaked with black and whitish, and in the spring the red feathers of the summer plumage are gained by a molt.

"Young birds are similar to the winter plumage of the adult, but are more of a metallic oil-green, without the beautiful shades which distinguish the adults at all seasons. The head is dusky brown, with a certain amount of white striping on the head and throat, but not so much as in the adult winter plumage." (Sharpe.)

Although the only authentic record of the occurrence of the glossy ibis in the Philippine Islands is that made by Mearns, there is every reason to look for it in Luzon and other of the larger islands.

Family PLATALEIDÆ.

Members of this family greatly resemble herons but differ in having the bill flattened and spatulate, the tip blunt and rounded; from each of the nostrils there is a groove which extends parallel to the edge of the mandible and meets the opposite groove at tip of bill.

Genus PLATALEA Linnæus, 1766.

Character same as those given for the Family.

132. PLATALEA MINOR Temminck and Schlegel.

LESSER SPOONBILL.

Platalea minor Temminck and Schlegel, Fauna Japonica Aves (1850), 120, pl. 76; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 50; Hand-List (1889), 1, 188; McGregor, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1906), 1, 766.

Luzon (Banks). Korea, Japan, China, and Formosa.