Tantalus

Tantalus, or WOOD-IBIS, a genus of birds of the stork family (Ciconiidae), quite distinct from the true ibises. The American Wood-ibis (T. loculator) is as large as a stork, but more slender, white, with black quill and tail feathers, the naked skin of the head and neck black. It is especially at home in South America, but also occurs in the southern states in swampy districts, and breeds abundantly in Florida. An allied African form, Pseudotantalus rhodinopterus, was for long regarded as the sacred ibis of the Egyptians, but this was a true ibis (Ibis aethiopica).