IBIDID.E — THE IBISES — EUDOCIMUS. 89 



the larger end, and around the widest portion, these markings are of greater size and 

 more numerous, and form a large crown, which covers the whole of the obtuse end of 

 the egg. These markings are diversified in their shade, and consist of patches of 

 bistre, intensified in spots. 



An egg of this species in my own collection (No. 70), from the Amazon, procured 

 by Mr. W. H. Edwards, is of a slightly oblong oval shape, very nearly equal at either 

 end, and measures 2.41 inches in length by 1.60 in breadth. The ground color is a 

 dull Avhite, with a slight rufous tinge. It is nearly covered — profusely so at the 

 larger end — with irregular blotches of a dull bistre ; these are nearly confluent at 

 the extremity, and a few are much deeper than the rest. 



Eudocimus albus. 



THE WHITE IBIS. 



Scolopax alba, LiNN. S. N. I. ed. 10, 1758, 145. 



Tantalus alber, Linn. S. N. I. 1766, 242. 



Tantalus albus, Gmel. S. N. I. 1788, 651. - WiLS. Am. Oni. VIII. 1814, 43, pi. 66. 



Ibis alba, ViEiLL. Nouv. Diet. XVI. 1817, 16. — Ndtt. Man. 11. 1S34, 86. — Aun. Oni. Biog. III. 



1835, 178 ; V. 1839, 593, pi. 222 ; Synop. 1839, 257 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 54, pi. 360. — Cass, in 



Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 684. — Baird, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 499. — Coues, Check List, 



1873, no. 446. 

 Eudocimus albus, Wagl. Isis, 1832, 1232. — Eidgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 501. — Coues, 



Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 651. 

 Tantalus coco, Jacq. Beitr.' 1784, 13. 

 Tantalus griscus, Gmel. S. N. I. 1788, 653 (young). 

 Eudocimus loncjirostris, Wagl. Isis, 1829, 760. 



Hab. Warm-temperate Eastern North America, West Indies, Middle America, and tropical 

 Soutli America ; north to Connecticut, Eastern Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Great Salt Lake, Utah ; 

 south to Brazil. 



Sp. Char. Adult : Terminal portion (beyond the emargination) of three to five ^ outer pri- 

 maries, glossy greenish black, with a bright metallic green, lustre. Rest of the plumage entirely 

 pure white. Bill, bare skin of the head, legs and feet, bright carmine in the breeding-season ; at 

 other times paler, or orange-red ; iris fine pearly Itlue (Audubon).- End of the bill sometimes 



1 According to Audubon, " There is a curious, though not altogether genei-al, difference between the 

 .sexes of this species as to the plumage, — the male has five of its primaries tipped with glossy black for 

 several inches, while the female, which is very little smaller than the male, has only four maiked in this 

 manner. On examining more than a hundred individuals of each sex, I found only four exceptions, which 

 occurred in females that wei'e very old birds, and which, as happens in some other species, might perhaps 

 have been undergoing the curious change exhibited by Ducks, Pheasants, and some other liirds, the females 

 of which, when old, sometimes assume the livery of the males." This supposed sexual difference we have 

 been unable to verify with the series before us, though it is very possible that some specimens may not 

 have the sex correctly determined. 



2 " Bare parts of the head [in the adult male] light orange-red ; bill the same, but towards the tip 

 dusky. Iris of a fine pearly blue. Legs and toes paler than the bill ; claws dusky, tipped with horn- 

 color. 



" After the first moult, the bill is pale yellowish orange, toward the base greenish ; the naked parts of 

 the head are pale orange-yellow, inclining to flesh-color ; the eye dark brown ; the feet pale blue. 



" The change in the coloring of the bill, legs, and feet of this bird, that takes place in the breeding 

 season, is worthy of remark, the bill being then of a deep orange-red, and the legs and feet of a red nearly 

 amounting to carmine. The males at this season have the gular pouch of a rich orange color, and some- 

 what resembling in shape that of the Frigate Pelican, although ])roportionally less. During winter these 

 parts are of a dull flesh-color. The irides also lose much of their clear blue, and resume in some degree 

 the umher color of the young birds. I am thus particular in these matter's, because it is doubtful if any 

 one else has ever paid attention to them." 



VOL. I. — 12 



