76 Birds of Colorado 



Scarlet Ibis. Gwara rubra. 



A.O.U. Checklist no [185] — Colorado Records — Lowe 94, p. 324; 

 Cooke 97, pp. 60, 156 ; 97a, p. 316 ; 98, p. 183. 



Description. — Adult — Plumage scarlet, except the tips of the wing, 

 which are black ; bare parts of head, bill and legs, red. Dimensions 

 as in the White Ibis. 



Distribution. — Eastern parts of tropical South Anterica, north casually 

 on about half-a-dozen occasions to the United States. Lowe reports 

 an example shot on Grape Creek in Wet Mountain Valley, Custer co.. 

 May, 1876, by a friend of Mr. Livesey, in whose collection the specimen 

 was preserved. A subsequent record published by Cooke (97a) was 

 based on a misapprehension on the part of the taxidermist, and 

 afterwards corrected. 



The occurrence of the Scarlet Ibis in the mountains of Colorado 

 at an elevation of at least 8,000 feet is most remarkable, as this bird 

 is essentially an inhabitant of the damp tropical forests and rivers of 

 South America. 



Genus PLEGADIS. 



Only a space between the eye and the base of the bill without feathers ; 

 c^aws long and slightly curved ; plumage metallic glossy green and 

 chestnut. 



Key of the Species. 



a. Feathers surrounding the bare face black. P. autumnalis, p. 76. 



b. Feathers surrounding the bare face white. P. guarauna, p. 77. 



Glossy Ibis. Plegadis autumnalis. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 186— Colorado Record — Cooke 97, p. 196. 



Descnption. — Resembling the White-faced Glossy Ibis, but the 

 feathers round the bare faco black, not white, and the bare skin of the 

 face slaty-blue or greenish, not red ; dimensions rather larger. Length 

 25; wing 11-85. 



Distribution. — The warmer parts of the Old World ; in the New, the 

 south-eastern United States and the West Indies, straggling further 

 north and west. Cooke notes two occurrences only in Colorado. Mr. 

 A. T. Allen, of Denver, shot a fine specimen in full plumage some years 

 ago near that place, which was examined by Cooke, and Mr. Voight 

 killed an adult male April 12th, 1898, on the Arkansas, three miles 

 above Salida, which was identified by Aiken. Hersey informs me he 

 has one in his collection taken June, 1905, at Barr. 



