in the same nest."

The whale-headed stork is still so little known that there is nothing
in these contradictions that ought to surprise us. Authors are no more
in accord on the subject of the affinities of this strange bird. Gould
claims that it presents the closest affinities with the pelican and is
the wading type of the Pelicanidæ. Verreaux believes that its nearest
relative is the adjutant, whose ways it has, and that it represents in
this group what the boatbill represents in the heron genus. Bonaparte
regards it as intermediate between the pelican and the boatbill. If we
listen to Reinhurdt, we must place it, not alongside of the boatbill,
but alongside of the African genus Scopus. The boatbill, says he, is
merely a heron provided with a singular bill, which has but little
analogy with that of the balæniceps, and not a true resemblance. The
nostrils differ in form and position in those two birds, and in the
boatbill there exists beneath the lower mandible a dilatable pouch
that we do not find in the balæniceps. An osteological examination
leads Parker to place the balæniceps near the boatbill, and the
present classification is based upon that opinion. The family of
Ardeidæ is, therefore, divided into five sub-families, the three last
of which each comprises a single genus.

Ardeidæ.--Ardeineæ (herons).
Botaurineæ (bitterns).
Scopineæ (ombrette).
Cancomineæ (boatbill).
Balænicepineæ (whale-headed stork).

All the whale-headed storks that have been received up to the present
have come from the region of the White Nile; but Mr. H. Johnston, who