partly spread-upon the whole assuming a most ferocious aspect. When either could obtain a firm hold of the bill, a leap succeeded, accompanied by a stroke of the wing; but they rarely injured each other." These birds, with the females, called Reeves, are taken alive in the fenny districts of England, and fattened upon bread and milk or boiled wheat, before being sent to market, where they fetch from thirty shillings to two guineas, or more, per dozen. They are also imported into London from Holland. They are migratory, and the range is extensive over Europe and Asia. A specimen of this is said to have been found on Long Island.

THE ARDEIDE OR HERONS.

This family includes several groups of remarkable birds, generally of stately forms, stalking majestically along, or standing sedately still, watching for their prey. Their legs are long and slender; the bill long and strong; the wings large and powerful. They frequent the margins of water, feeding upon small aquatic animals of various kinds. They are generally migratory, some of them performing very long journeys.

Genus PLATALEA: Platalea. This includes the Spoonbills, distinguished by the very singular form of their bills, which are flattened, gradually narrowed from the base to a little beyond the middle, and expanded at the extremity into a flat oval disc. The toes are connected by membranes at the base. The COMMON WHITE SPOONBILL-P. leucorodia of Europe, Cucchiaorone of the Italians, Spatule of the French, Löffel Gans of the Germans-is about thirty or thirty

two inches in length, and is generally distributed over the continent of Europe, but is a rare bird in England. It is found in Africa, as far south as the Cape of Good Hope, and in India. It is migratory in its habits, retreating to the South of Europe and North Africa during the winter, and advancing far to the north during the summer to breed. One of its favorite summer residences, however, is Holland, where it occurs in great numbers. Its food consists of small fishes, mollusca, worms, and insects.

The ROSEATE SPOONBILL, P. ajaja, is two feet six inches long; plumage of a beautiful rosecolor; the wings carmine. It is common in the West Indies, Guiana, Mexico, and the southern parts of the United States. It lives along the sea-coasts and the mouths of rivers, where it is seen

moving about in quest of shell-fish, marine animals, small snails, and fish. In pursuit of these it sometimes swims and dives. This species, as well as the others, live in communities during the breeding season, and often feed by twilight.

Genus IBIS: Ibis. Of this there are several species. The GLOSSY IBIS, I. falcinellus-I. Ordii of Bonaparte is two feet long; of a dark green above, and a fine reddish-brown beneath; the whole plumage being silky and glossed with purplish bronze. It frequents the borders of rivers, lakes, &c., and feeds on worms and mollusca. It is common in Southern Europe, and parts of Africa and Asia. It is supposed to be the Black Ibis of the ancients. This specics is occasionally found in the United States. Some authors, however, believe the ibis met with on this continent. to be distinct from the European one, though closely resembling it.

The SACRED IBIS, I. religiosa, is twenty-three inches long; plumage white; the wings tipped with black; found throughout Africa, and occurs abundantly in Egypt, where it was regarded with great veneration by the ancient Egyptians, who kept them in their temples, and embalmed them after their death; thousands of their remains are still found in the burial places amid the ruins of ancient Egypt. Various reasons have been given for this custom, some saying that the Ibis destroyed the noxious serpents which were so numerous in that country; others that there was supposed to be some analogy between the plumage of the bird and one of the phases of the moon; while a third opinion is that the birds were regarded with favor, because, their annual migration into Egypt taking place at the period of the rising of the Nile, they were considered as the harbingers of that event. This bird, often called the WHITE IBIS-I. alba of De Kay and others-is also found, though rarely, in the Gulf Atlantic States.

The SCARLET IBIS, I. rubra, is twenty-three inches long, of a fine scarlet color, and is found along the shores of tropical America; is occasionally seen in the southern parts of the United States. It is sometimes domesticated and associates with the poultry.

The WOOD IBIS, Tantalus loculator, is according to Wilson, three feet two inches long, of which the bill forms nine inches; general color white; quills dark glossy green and purple. Its haunts are along the margins of rivers, and amid marshes and meadows; found from Brazil to the Southern States.

CICONINÆ, INCLUDING ADJUTANTS, JA

BRIUS, STORKS, &c.

Genus CICONIA: Ciconia. This includes the Storks, which are large birds, chiefly inhabiting the warmer regions of the earth, where they frequent marshy places, feeding upon reptiles, batrachians, fishes, and other small animals, not excluding small quadrupeds and birds. Many of them devour indiscriminately almost any thing that comes in their way, including garbage of all kinds; hence, like the vultures and other carrioneating animals, they are regarded with great favor by the inhabitants of warm climates. Several species perform long migrations, visiting temperate and cold climates during the summer; but the majority appear to be permanently resident in warm countries.

The best-known species is the WHITE STORK, C. alba, which is about three feet and a half in length, and is of a white color, with the quills and coverts of the wings black, and the bill and feet red. These birds visit the central parts of Europe in the spring, and remain there during the summer, departing usually in the month of October for their

THE WHITE STORK.

winter-quarters in Asia and Africa. They are very common in Holland and parts of Germany. Their services in the countries frequented by them, in the destruction of vermin of all kinds, prevent their being the objects of any molestation; they are, therefore, generally very fearless of man, and frequently build their nests on the tops of the houses in the very centers of towns; indeed, in many places, the inhabitants place wooden boxes or frames on the tops of their houses to induce these birds to build there; and the man whose house is selected by one of them for this purpose, always considers himself particularly fortunate. They return annually to breed in the same place, and manifest great delight on again taking possession of their deserted home.

The nest is formed of a mass of sticks and other coarse materials, in which the bird lays three or four eggs, which are hatched in about a month, and the young are then tended with great care by both parents, who feed them by inserting their bills into the mouth of the young bird, and disgorging some of the half-digested food from their own stomachs. The old birds manifest the greatest attachment to their young, which has rendered them objects of admiration in all ages. A most remarkable instance of this occurred in the conflagration of Delft, where a female stork was observed, after repeated attempts to carry off her young, to prefer remaining with them to