Family XXXVII. TANTALINAE. IBISES.

Bill very long, arcuate, rather stout at the base, obtuse. Nostrils basal, linear or oblong. Head bare in front, rather large or of moderate size; neck long and slender; body ovate. Legs long and rather stout; tibia bare to a large extent; tarsus reticulate, sometimes scaly in front; toes four, articulated on the same level, the anterior webbed at the base, the first more slender. Claws arched, compressed, rather obtuse. Wings long and very broad, with the second quill longest. Tail short, of twelve feathers. Tongue triangular, extremely short, flat, and thin. OEsophagus wide; stomach large, muscular, broadly elliptical, with the epithelium dense, longitudinally rugous; intestines generally of moderate length and width, coeca very small; cloaca globular. Trachea without inferior laryngeal muscles.