Q.O NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



ORDfcR-PTALATE^. 



FAMILY— IBIDIDyE : IBISES. 



698. — Ibis Molucca, Uuvier. — (539) 



Tlircskiornia strictipcnnis, Gould. 



WHITE IBIS. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, £ol., vol. vi., pi. 46. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxvi., p. 9. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Campbell : Southern Science Record 

 (1883), and Nests and Eggs .-^ustn. Birds, pi. 2, fig. 539 (1883), 

 also Victorian Naturalist (1S91); North: Rec. Austn. Mus., 

 vol. 1., p. iiS (1891). 



Gi'oyraphical Distribution. — Australia in general; also New Guinea 

 and Molucca Islands. 



Nest. — A shallow structure, made, in the first instance, by the birds 

 trampling down the rushes of a swamp into a platform, to which are 

 added Hags, grasses, in some instances green (Eucali/pfusJ branchlets. 

 Dimensions, from 12 to 18 inches across. The nests are in companies 

 and sometimes built on polygonum bushes, after the manner of the 

 Straw-necked Ibis. 



Egffs. — Clutch, three to foui-, occasionally five ; vary in shape from 

 round oval to oval ; textiu-e of shell coarse ; surface has faint trace of 

 gloss ; colour, white more or less soiled with nest stains. Inside 

 lining of shell beautiful hght gi-een. Dimensions in inches of a proper 

 clutch: (1) 2-6 X 1-68, (2) 2-56 x 1-74, (3) 2-5 x 1-69, (4) ::-5xl-67; of 

 a stouter-sized set: (1) 2-62 x 1-82, (2) 2-62 x 1-84, (3) 2-59 x 1-8. 



Observations. — As its specific name implies, this fine bird is found 

 as far north as the Moluccas. It was called Ibis iiiahircn by Cuvicr 

 as far back as 1829. 



The White Ibis needs no description. However, it may be stated 

 the bill is heavier and more curved, and altogether the bird is slightly 

 larger than the Straw-necked species. The liead and upper portion of 

 the neck are naked and black, while a few black plumes adorn the end 

 of the back ; there arc also some pink ornamentations of the skin 011 

 the back of the neck. What is stated with regard to the habit^s of 

 the Straw-necked Ibis equally applies to the White bird ; in fact, 

 the two species are frequently observed in company. One 



marked difference, as Gould pointed out, may, however, be noticed, that 



