Order PLATALE.^. 



Family IBIDID^. 



C3-en"a.s IBIS, Ciuv"/-. 

 Ibis molucca. 



WHll'E IlilS. 



IlHS7,wbirca, Gav.,m-Sne Xnim., Tom. I., p. 520, note (1829): Sliarpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., 



Vol. XXVI., p. 9 {1«98) ; id., Hand-1. Bds, Vol. I., p. 184 (1899). 

 Threskior, lis .■<lrict.ijiennis, Gon\d, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. VI., pi. 46(1848); id., Handbk. Bds. 

 AiLstr., Vol. II., p. 284(1865). 

 Adult male. — General colour above and hdow tvhite ; dps of the primaries tipped wit/i bluish- 

 black, the iivbs o/thefonr innermost secondaries disconnected and purplish-b/ack, with thennnaiiis of 

 more or less perfect transrerse ichite barrings : feathers on the centre of the lower neck lomj, iiarroiv 

 and acuminate ; upper half of neck and th,' lirail bare, ?vhich, to;/,ihrr irilh the hill, is slaty-black, 

 crossed on the back of the head with rose pink bands surrounded on the cro/iin and sides of the lirad 

 with ronndid oval rose-pink spots ; thighs, tarsi and feet dark purple, the front of the tarsi light 

 purple: skin covering nndrr surface of icing bonis deep blood red. Total length in the jb-sh -SO-.j 

 inches, wing 14, tail o'O, bill -'rS, tarsus ',■■',. 



Adult fkmalk. — Similar in plnincge to the male. 



Distribnl ion.— North-western Australia, Northern Territory of South Austraha, Hueensland, 

 New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, New Guinea. 



a^N favourable situations, and omitting Central and South-western Australia, the White Ibis 

 J^ is generally distributed over the greater portion of the Australian continent, its range 

 extending also to New Guinea and the Moluccas. 



Cuvier described this species in iSjy under the name of Ibis nioluica, Gould also character- 

 ising it in the " Proceedings of the Zoological Society," in 1S37, as Ibis stnctipemiis, relying 

 chiefly for its separation from Ibis aHhiopica to the difference in plumage of the lower neck. In 

 Gould's figure of Thirskioniis slrictipeiinis, in his folio edition of the " Birds of Australia," the 

 narrow lanceolate feathers on the lower portion of the fore-neck appear to be much accentuated, 

 for in no living bird, or specimen I have examined, are they so pronounced as there represented, 

 for some periods of the year, too, birds otherwise in full adult breeding plumage, are entirely 

 destitute of them. Gould's remarks as to the considerable difference in the rose-pink transverse 

 markings on tlie back of the neck, I can substantiate, and can add that it exists too in the number 

 and the disposition of the rose-pink oval-shaped spots on the crown of the head. 



It is remarkable that young birds in their first plumage, which have the inner secondaries 

 dusky-grey, and without the decomposed webs, have the feathers of the throat and centre of the 

 foreneck white, and those of the head and remainder of neck dusky-brown. Wing i2-io inches. 

 In the immature stage the webs of the inner secondaries are dusky-grey, with a slight purplish 

 lustre, the webs partially decomposed, and the feathers of the head and neck white, or 

 nearly so, with the exception of a few blackish-brown centres to the feathers on the crown of 

 the head. Wing equals that of adult, 14-5 inches. Thus it will be seen that there are at least 

 two quite distinct changes of plumage in the colour of the head and neck before the bird arrives 

 at maturity, and the head and upper half of the neck finally become bare and entirely devoid 

 of feathers. 



