98 



ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 



Young, first year : Head, neck, and lower parts as in the last, bnt upper parts and under side of 

 the \vin>' unil'orm, continuous bronzy green, with little, if any, admixture of purple or violet shades. 



No chestnut on the lesser \nng-coverts ! Bill, pale greenish horn-blue, l)lackish terminally and 

 dusky basally ; iris, " hazel ;" legs and feet, deep black (= F. thalassinus, Ridgway).^ 



Doicny young : Bill light yellowish, the base, end, and band around the middle deep black ; 

 lores blackish : legs and feet black. Forehead black, bounded posteriorly by a crescentic patch of 

 dull, silvery white, extending from eye to eye, across the posterior portion of the crown ; the line 

 of demarcation between the white and black being somewhat mixed or suffused with light rufous. 

 Rest of head, neck, and lower parts covered with soft downy feathers of a uniform brownish gray 

 shade, without any whitish streaks on head or neck. Partially complete plumage of the upper 

 surface entirely uniform, continuous bronze-green, or metallic bottle-green, without the slightest 

 admixture anywhere of purple, blue, or violet. 



Length, about i9.()()-2G.0() ; expanse, 3().0()-4().00 ; wing, 9.3()-l().8U ; tail, 3.50-5.00 ; culmen, 

 3.75-6.00 ; depth of bill, .50-.60; tarsus, 3.00-4.40; middle toe, 2.10-2.85 ; bare portion of tibia, 

 1.50-2.75 2 



According to Dr. J. V. Merrill (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Vol. I. p. 163), " The young, when first 

 hatched, are clothed in blackish down ; the bill is whitish, Avith dusky base. When nearly fledged, 

 the wings and back have a very marked metallic lustre ; the base of bill, with terminal one fourth 

 inch and a two fifths inch median band, black ; the intervening portions pinkish white." 



In this widely distributed species there is very little variation in colors among specimens of the 

 same age, but the difterence in proportions is often very great. A perfectly adult specimen from 

 the vicinity of Santiago, Chili, and one from San Francisco, Cal., are much alike in plumage, 

 except tliat in the former the crown is darker (being, in fact, decidedly dusky), while the back 

 is of a darker chestnut, with more decided violet-pur[)le reflections. In dimensions, however, they 

 exhibit almost the extremes of measurements, as the following will show : — 



Catal. no. Locality. Wing. Culmen. Tarsus. Middle Toe. 



79928 San Francisco, Cal. 10.80 .6.00 4.25 2.75 



49042 Santiago, Cliili. 9.50 4.15 3.25 2.20 



Specimens from the same locality, however, sometimes differ (|uite as much as those mentioned 

 above ; and we are unable to appreciate any geographical difterences whatever, examples from Chili, 

 Buenos Ayre.s, Mexico, and Columbia River being (piite identical. A specimen from the Sandwich 

 Islands we refer to this species somewhat doubtfully, it being in immature plumage. It agrees 

 strictly with American examples of the same age in all respects wlierein guarauna differs from 

 falcinellus, even to the reddish color of the bill, lores, and feet. Still, it is possiljle that perfect 

 adults may show differences from both forms. 



This species, known in its mature form as the Bronzed Ibis, and in its immature 

 condition as the Green Ibis, is a common species in Utah, Nevada, and Southwestern 

 Texas, and probably also in Xew Mexico and Arizona, in localities favorable for its 

 residence and support. 



1 Notes from fresh specimens killed at Oreana, on the Humboldt Kiver, Nevada, Sept. 3, 1867. 



2 Extremes of about forty specimens. 



