192 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



almost impenetrable to man. The most remarkable 

 breeding place of this Ibis in Europe is situated on the 

 Obedska bara in Sclavonia, a vast region of reeds and 

 willows and swamps and inundated forests of alder 

 and other trees, flooded every year by the rising of the 

 Danube which flows through it. This Ibis is gregarious, 

 and breeds in colonies of varying size, often in company 

 with various species of Herons, Cormorants, Darters, 

 and other swamp-loving birds. In Europe the nests are 

 usually made in partly submerged willows ; in India 

 Mr. Doig found them in kundy trees ; in Ceylon Col. 

 Legge states that they were built in thorny trees 

 growing in the half-dried bed of a small pool. The 

 nests of several other species breeding in the colony 

 may often be found on the same tree. The nests are 

 flat and made of sticks and dry reeds, but those found 

 by Col. Legge were mostly made of twigs and grass 

 roots. In Europe where the selected trees arc small — 

 — little more than bushes — the nest is never far from the 

 water, and often within a {^\n inches of it, but in Ceylon 

 where the trees are high the birds build at a much 

 greater elevation. Of the pairing habits of this Ibis 

 nothing is known. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Glossy Ibis are three or four in number, 

 generally three. They are a clear greenish-blue — almost 

 turquoise-blue — in colour, rough in grain, the shell being 

 minutely pitted. Average measurement, 2"i inches in 

 length, by 1*5 inch in breadth. The duration of the 

 incubation period is unknown, as is also which sex 

 performs the task. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of the Glossy 

 Ibis are readily distinguished from those of every other 

 European bird by their size, blue colour, and pitted 

 surface. 



