The Probert Encyclopaedia of Nature

IBIS

The Ibis (Ibididae) is a family of birds related to the storks, and mostly found in warm countries. The bill is long, slender, and nearly cylindrical, tapers towards the tip, and is more or less arched. The head is always more or less bare of feathers, the tail is short, and there are generally tufts of plume-like feathers near the posterior end of the body.

The most famous member of the family is the sacred ibis (Ibis aethiopica or Ibis religiosa) of the ancient Egyptians, often found as a mummy in temples. This is found throughout Africa. It is about the size of a common fowl, with its head and neck bare, and white plumage, the primaries of the wings being tipped with black and the secondaries being bright black, glossed with green and violet. It was reared in the temples of ancient Egypt with a degree of respect bordering on adoration, and after death was preserved in a mummified condition. The cause of its being deemed sacred was no doubt because it appeared in Egypt with the rise of the Nile; but it is now rare in that country, living farther south.

There are several other species, as the Ibis falcinellus, or glossy ibis, nearly 60 cm in length, which nests in Asia, but migrates also to Egypt, sometimes visiting England; the Ibis rubra of tropical America, remarkable for its scarlet plumage; the Ibis alba, or white ibis of Florida; the Ibis or Geronticus spinicollis, or straw-necked ibis of Australia; etc.aqws
Research Ibis