Bright red or pink and white birds, standing four feet or more in height; side of the bill with gutters, its end bent downward; wings rather short; legs long; feet webbed.
Family 16. FLAMINGOES. Phoenicopteridæ.
Characters of the Family similar to those of the Order.
Order VII. Herons, Bitterns, Ibises, and Spoonbills.
HERODIONES.
(4 families, 19 species, 3 subspecies.)
Long-legged wading birds, generally found along shores or on muddy flats; bill variable; in the Herons straight and sharply pointed; in the Ibises, slender, rounded, and curved downward; in the Spoonbill, flattened: wings rounded; tail short; legs long; toes all on same level, long, slender, without webs. Herons and Bitterns fly with a fold in the neck, the head being drawn in; Ibises and Spoonbills fly with the neck straight, the head being extended.