THE IBIS was regarded as a sacred bird by the ancient Egyptians, who used to have these birds walking about in their temples, and embalmed their bodies after death with as much care as those of their priests and kings. The cause of this veneration is not clearly ascertained, some authors supposing it to be due to the services rendered by the bird in destroying serpents and other noxious creatures; others to a fanciful resemblance between the bird and one of the moon’s phases; and others, again, to the arrival of the birds in Egypt at or about the period of the annual inundation of the Nile. The sacred Ibis has a long, stout, curved black bill; the head and neck are black and naked, and the plumage is white, with the tips of the wings black. Another species, the _Glossy Ibis_ (_Ibis falcinellus_), shared the veneration of the Egyptians with the Sacred Ibis; it has a more slender bill than the Sacred Ibis, and its plumage, which is beautifully glossy, is dark green above and reddish-brown beneath. This bird is common in the south of Europe, and specimens have been shot in England. The _Scarlet Ibis_ (_Ibis rubra_) is a beautiful species, which adorns the banks of the great rivers of South America, in company with the Roseate Spoonbill. [Illustration: THE CURLEW. (_Numenius arquatus._)] “Soothed by the murmurs of the sea-beat shore, His dun-grey plumage floating to the gale, The Curlew blends his melancholy wail With those hoarse sounds the rushing waters pour.” MISS WILLIAMS. “Wild as the scream of the Curlew, From rock to rock the signal flew.” SIR WALTER SCOTT. THE CURLEW is a large bird, weighing about twenty-four ounces; and is found in winter on the sea-shore on all sides of England. The middle parts of the feathers of the head, neck, and back are black, the borders or outsides ash-coloured, with a mixture of red; and the lower part of the body white. The beak has a regular curve downward, and is soft at the point. This bird’s flesh may challenge for flavour and delicacy that of any other water-fowl, and the people of Suffolk say proverbially: “A Curlew, be she white, be she black, She carries twelve pence on her back:” but it must be confessed that the quality and goodness of the flesh of Curlews depend on their manner of feeding, and the season in which they are caught. When they dwell on the sea-shore, they acquire a kind of rankness, which is so strong, that, unless they are basted on the spit with vinegar, they are not agreeable eating. [Illustration: THE REDSHANK. (_Totanus calidris._)]