Fam. IX. The Ibididae, connected with the Storks through Tantalus, may be divided into the Sub-families (1) Ibidinae or Ibises, and (2) Plataleinae or Spoonbills. In the former the long bill is weak, nearly cylindrical, and strongly curved; in the latter flattened, narrowed in the middle, and dilated into a terminal spoon, which finally turns downwards. The nasal grooves are remarkably elongated, the skull is somewhat square in Thaumatibis and Graptocephalus. The tibia is partly bare, the metatarsus of medium length and often stout, with transverse or hexagonal scales becoming almost reticulated behind, or even in front in Hagedashia and Carphibis; the toes are generally long, with short anterior webs and variable claws, that of the third digit being sometimes serrated. The moderate wings have eleven primaries and from fourteen to nineteen secondaries; the tail of twelve rectrices is usually short and even, or slightly rounded, but may be long, as in Comatibis, Geronticus, Cercibis, and Theristicus; in the last two of which it is cuneate. The furcula is U-shaped, the tongue rudimentary, the nostrils are pervious, an aftershaft is present, but there are no powder-down patches or syringeal muscles. Platalea leucorodia has the trachea convoluted like a figure of 8 in old birds. Adults and nestlings are uniformly downy, the latter varying from black with a white band over the crown in Plegadis to white in Platalea.
Sub-fam. 1. Ibidinae.–Ibises are shy birds, which inhabit not only marshy spots and wooded country, but also the driest of plains and rocky gorges, being found both in pairs and in flocks. The flight is tolerably high and rapid, with extended neck and legs, most species habitually sailing or circling aloft, though Plegadis rises with a whirr and skims along at no great elevation. On the ground the gait is graceful, and swimming is certainly practised at times, nor are perching or roosting on trees or reeds uncommon habits. The usual note is loud and harsh, Ibis melanocephala being said to have a booming call[[98]] and Inocotis a melancholy scream[[99]]; the food consists chiefly of aquatic insects, molluscs, crustaceans, and worms; but small fish, lizards, newts, frogs, grasshoppers, and beetles form part of the diet; Geronticus, which does not despise carrion, acts as a scavenger. Most Ibises wade in pursuit of prey, whether in fresh or salt water, moving the bill to and fro, and probing the subjacent mud. Some species breed apart, others in colonies; the nest being placed on trees or low bushes, and more rarely among reeds, or, as in Geronticus and Comatibis, in holes in cliffs or on ledges. The structure is not remarkably large, and is composed of sticks or stems of plants, with or without a lining of herbage, straw, or roots; the eggs, from two to four in number, being deep green-blue in Plegadis, pale blue in Graptocephalus, similar or darker in Inocotis, olive-green in Hagedashia, and greenish-white in Ibis and Eudocimus, or even brownish in the last-named. In all except the first two there are generally reddish or brownish markings. Incubation lasts about three weeks.
Eudocimus ruber and E. albus, the Scarlet and White Ibises of tropical America, are respectively coloured as the names import, the tips of the longer primaries and of the bill being black, while the bare front of the head and throat, the remainder of the bill and the feet are red. The former, of more eastern range, strays to the southern United States, the latter occurring farther north, and breeding in Florida. Lampribis olivacea of West Africa is coppery olive-green, with buff centres to the feathers of the loose occipital crest and under parts, the wings being more metallic, and the naked forehead and loral region black. The bill and feet are red. Plegadis falcinellus, the Glossy Ibis, which occasionally visits Britain, is found irregularly in Northern Europe and commonly in the south, extending through most of Asia and North Africa, and migrating as far as Australia and Natal. It also occurs in the South-Eastern United States and the West Indies. The head, neck, mantle, and lower surface are chestnut, the remaining parts purplish-green and bronzy, with bare greenish lores and blackish bill and feet; P. guarauna, which represents the genus from the Western and Southern United States and the Hawaiian Islands to Patagonia, having red lores, white feathers round the beak, and at times red bill and feet. P. ridgwayi of Peru and Chili is purplish-black below, with reddish-grey bill and black feet. Cercibis oxycerca, found from Colombia to Upper Amazonia, is dark olive-green with a little purple and blue gloss, the naked face and throat being pinkish and the bill and feet yellowish. The crest is slight, while a line of feathers ascends the throat. Lophotibis cristata, confined to Madagascar, is reddish-chestnut, with white wings, blue-green tail, and an enormous crest combining all three colours; the bill is greenish, the feet and the bare orbital region are red. Phimosus infuscatus, ranging from Colombia to Argentina, is bronzy-green with purple reflexions, the feet, bill, and face being pink, with papillae on the forehead and cheeks. The slightly crested Harpiprion cayennensis, occurring from Panama to South Brazil, is similarly coloured, but has greenish-grey bill, feet, and naked skin on the lores, chin, and sides of the throat. Molybdophanes caerulescens of Brazil and Argentina is greyish-green with dark bluish remiges, grey-brown crown, nuchal crest and lower parts, white frontal band, naked black chin and warty lores, black bill and yellow feet. Theristicus caudatus of Guiana is greenish-brown, with orange-buff head and neck, blackish under parts, and partially white wing-coverts; the papillose lores, upper throat, and orbits being naked and black, and a whitish tuft adorning the chin. The bill is black with greenish tip, and the feet are red. T. melanopis, differing in its rufous breast, inhabits America from Peru and Brazil southwards; T. branickii being probably identical. Bostrychia carunculata of North-East Africa is greenish-brown with metallic reflexions and white on the wing-coverts, the crested head and under surface having whitish margins to the feathers, and the bill, feet, and a long thin gular caruncle being red. Hagedashia hagedash, of the Ethiopian Region generally, is somewhat similar but brighter, with no white on the wing and no crest or wattle; the dusky lores are bare and warty, the bill is black with crimson base to the culmen, and the feet are chiefly red. Geronticus calvus of South Africa, except for its shorter crest and greenish-white fore-neck, is not unlike Comatibis comata of Northern Africa, Arabia, and the Euphrates, which is metallic greenish-black with a large bronzy-red patch on each wing, a fine nuchal tuft of narrow feathers, red bill, feet, and bare skin of the head and throat. There is some question here as to the colour of the naked spaces. Nipponia nippon, of East Siberia, Corea, Japan, China, and Formosa, is white with pinkish remiges and rectrices; a long pendent crest graces the nape, the bare face is vermilion, the bill black with red tip, while the feet are lighter red. Graptocephalus davisoni of the Burmese Countries and Cochin China and Inocotis papillosus of India are both dusky brown, with bluish-black wings and tail, a white patch on the wing-coverts, greyish bill, and red feet; but whereas in the former the black naked head is separated by a bare bluish-white collar from the neck, in the latter the hinder crown is dotted with red papillae. Carphibis spinicollis of Australia is black with purple and coppery sheen, the sides of the downy neck, the tail, and the abdomen being white, and the feathers of the chest, which are converted into stiff straw-like processes, yellowish. The naked head and throat are black, the bill is black with brown bars at the base, the tibiae are crimson, and the metatarsi dusky. The huge Thaumatibis gigantea of Cochin China is blackish-brown glossed with green, and shows much grey on the wing; the scapulars are decomposed and the head and upper neck bare; the nape is crossed by black bars, and the bill and feet are dull red. Ibis aethiopica, the Sacred Ibis of the ancient Egyptians, of which mummies are so often found in the temples, represented to that people the moon-god Thoth, and is now the Abou-Hannes or Father John of Abyssinia. It inhabits the Ethiopian Region, being most plentiful on the Upper Nile, though wandering to the Persian Gulf, Egypt, and Algeria. The bare head and neck, the bill, feet, and tips of the primaries are black; the decomposed inner secondaries and scapulars, which in summer curve gracefully over the hinder parts, are iridescent black, the remainder of the plumage is white. I. bernieri of Madagascar, and probably Aldabra Island, has white primaries, as has I. melanocephala, ranging from India and Java to Japan. The latter, moreover, develops in the breeding season a ruff of long plumes on the fore-neck, similar to that of I. molucca of Australia, Papuasia, and Ceram, which is distinguished by ten pink bars crossing the occiput and nape, and pink spots on the crown.
The sexes are similar, but young Ibises are comparatively dull, and have feathered heads and necks, while crests and ornamental plumes are generally absent. In immature examples of Ibis and elsewhere the head and neck are black and white, in Nipponia the plumage is apparently grey, in Eudocimus chiefly brown.
Sub-fam. 2. Plataleinae.–Spoonbills are shy gregarious birds, frequenting creeks of the sea or marshes, where they may be seen wading ankle-deep in water, hunting for the fish, frogs, crustaceans, molluscs, beetles, and insect-larvae on which they live, or searching the ground in drier spots. They walk sedately, and fly with easy flapping action and outstretched head and legs, now and then rising spirally to float aloft; while swimming, perching, or standing on one leg are ordinary habits. In feeding, the beak is moved from side to side in semicircular fashion, the body acting in unison. There are no true vocal muscles, the voice being a harsh quack or deep Heron-like note; but a clattering of the bill is heard at times, less noisy than in Storks. The nest, when in reed-beds, is a mass of twigs, flags, and the like, placed on the ground or on low bushes; but it is commonly a large platform of sticks in a tree, the three to five roughish eggs being dull white with red-brown spotting. Colonies are nearly always formed.
Platalea leucorodia, the Spoonbill, which once bred regularly in England, ranges over Central and Southern Europe and Northern Africa, to Central Asia, Ceylon, and China; P. regia inhabits Australia, and probably Borneo, Celebes, the Moluccas, and New Guinea, straying also to New Zealand; P. minor occurs in China, Corea, Japan, and Formosa; P. alba in the Ethiopian Region with Madagascar. The plumage is white, with bare lores orbits, and throat, and a fine nuchal crest in the breeding season, the fore-neck being tinged with buff, except in the last-named.
Fig. 30.–Spoonbill. Platalea leucorodia. × ⅙.
P. leucorodia has yellow naked areas, black feet and bill, with yellow bars and tip to the latter; P. minor differs in having the neck-feathers produced to a point on the black throat; P. regia has the above parts, except a portion of the orbits, black, and P. alba all of them red. The maxilla is transversely corrugated, at least in summer.[[100]] Platibis flavipes of Australia is white, with no crest, but with black outer webs to the decomposed inner secondaries, and elongated straw-yellow plumes on the fore-neck in the nuptial period; the naked forehead, ocular region, throat, bill, and feet being yellow; while a black line separates the gorge from the feathered parts in the adult. Ajaja rosea of tropical America, which reaches the South-East United States, is rose-pink, with white neck, back, and breast, pinkish-buff tail, and carmine wing- and tail-coverts; the bare head is yellowish-green, the orbits and throat are orange, the bill is greenish-blue with grey and black base, the feet are crimson, while a curly pink tuft is developed on the fore-neck in the breeding season.
The female Spoonbill is like the male. The young seem to be duller, with no crest or ornamental plumes; in some cases the primaries are tipped with black, in Ajaja the head is entirely feathered.