ANATOMY OF BIRDS
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS
CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS
LIZARD-TAILED BIRD
AMERICAN TOOTHED-BIRDS
THE OSTRICHES
THE RHEAS
EMEUS AND CASSOWARIES
THE TINAMOUS
THE KIWIS
THE PENGUINS
LOONS AND GREBES
ALBATROSSES & PETRELS
STORK-LIKE BIRDS
GOOSE-LIKE BIRDS
FALCON-LIKE BIRDS
FOWL-LIKE BIRDS
CRANE-LIKE BIRDS
PLOVER-LIKE BIRDS
CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS
THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS
SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE STORK-LIKE BIRDS
THE STORKS (Family Ciconiidd)
Shell Stork
The Open-bills, or Shell Storks (Anastomus), are among the smallest of the group, being only twenty-eight or thirty inches in length. They are known at once by the fact that the bill gapes widely toward the tip, leaving, as suggested by the name, an open space of considerable extent in the terminal half of the bill. It was supposed that this resulted from wearing away in the process of securing their food, but it has been asserted on good authority that the young birds exhibit the same feature, and hence it is structural.
They live on shell-fish, such as fresh-water mollusks, whence of course their second name. Of the two species known, the Indian (A. oscitans) is pure white both above and below, with the exception of the wings and their primary coverts, and the feathers of the tail, which are black with purple and green reflections.
The African species (.4. lamelligerus) is largely black with metallic green and purple reflections, the feathers of the crown, throat, breast, and under parts with narrow horny tips. The Open-bills nest among the reeds in marshes or occasionally in trees, returning year after year to their old nesting sites.
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