White-faced Glossy Ibis 77 



White-faced Glossy Ibis. Plegadis guarauna. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 187 — Colorado Records — Ridgway 73, p. 187 ; 

 79, p. 233 ; Drew 85, p. 18 ; Morrison 89, p. 166 ; Smith 96, p. 65 ; 

 Cooke 97, pp. 60, 156, 197 ; 98, p. 183 ; Warren 09, p. 13 ; Felger 09, 

 p. 284 ; Hersoy & Rockwell 09, p. 114. 



Description. — Male — A margin of white feathers round the bare 

 spaces on the sides of the face ; rest of the head, neck, shoulders and 

 under-parts rich dark chestnut ; crown, back and wings glossed with 

 metallic purple and green ; iris red, bill blackish, reddening towards 

 the tip ; bare skin of face reddish, dusky in dried skins, legs dusky red. 

 Length 24 ; wing 10-5 ; tail 4-5 ; culmen 5-5 ; tarsus 4-0. 



The female is smaller — wing 9-5. Young birds in first plumage 

 are a lustrous plain green with the legs and bill black. 



Distribution. — South and western North America from Florida and 

 Texas to Oregon, and thence south to the Argentine and Chili, through 

 the West Indies and Mexico. 



The White-faced Glossy Ibis is a rather unconmaon summer resident 

 in Colorado, breeding up to about 7,500 feet. It was first noticed 

 by Aiken, who observed it on the South Platte in South Park in Sep- 

 tember, 1872, and subsequently found it nesting at San Luis Lakes, 

 July 1st, 1875. H. G. Smith reports it from Marston Lake, near Denver, 

 and Beymer secm-ed one out of a flock of six, April 23rd, 1897, on the 

 Arkansas near Rocky Ford (Cooke). Other occurrences are Barr 

 Lake, October 3rd, 1898, Twin Lakes, South and Middle Parks and 

 Glenwood Springs (Cooke) ; Norwood, San Miguel co., September 21st, 

 1907 (Warren). Hersey and Rockwell saw two individuals, probably 

 the same birds, on five occasions in May and June, 1907, at Barr, but 

 could find no evidence of their nesting. 



Habits. — Goss states that at a distance the metallic 

 colours of the Glossy Ibis are invisible, so that it appears 

 to be a plain blackish bird, and is therefore generally 

 known as the Black Curlew. It is a gregarious species, 

 frequenting moist ground at the edges of lakes. The food 

 consists of crayfish, frogs, snails, and aquatic insects. In 

 flight the head and neck are stretched out to their 

 fullest extent. They rise in confusion, but when going 

 any distance quickly form into line abreast and fly 

 forward in a wavy formation. 



They breed in colonies, often with Herons and other 

 marsh-birds, in swamps or shallow lakes. The nest 



