126 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult: Feathers about base of bill blackish (lores naked); rest of head and neck, lesser 

 wing-coverts and entire under parts, rich dark chestnut; upper parts, except lesser wing- 

 coverts, dark purplish-green with strong metallic reflections. Bill, feet and legs dark 

 greenish-brown, or black; iris brown. Bare skin between bill and eye dark blue. Sexes 

 alike. 



Length 22 to 25 inches; wing 10.20 to 11.85; culmen 4.30 to 5.35; tarsus 2.90 to 4.30. 



Family 19. CICONIID.F. Storks and Wood Ibises. 



67. Wood Ibis. Mycteria americana Linn. (188) 



Synonyms: Wood Stork, Wood Pelican (Catesby). — Tantalus loculator, Linn., 1758, 

 and authors generally. 



Its stork-like appearance, bare head and neck, and strongly contrasted 

 black and white plumage are distinctive. 



Distribution. — Southern United States, from the Ohio Valley, Colorado, 

 Utah, southeastern California, etc., south to Argentine Republic; casually 

 northward to Pennsylvania and New York. 



This bird must be regarded as a mere straggler to Michigan from the 

 south. Our only positive record is furnished by Mr. P. A. Taverner, of 

 Detroit, who found a freshly mounted specimen in a taxidermist's shop in 

 July, 1910, and on investigation discovered that it was killed at Monroe, 

 Michigan, June 19, 1910. It was an immature bird, and the sex was not 

 determined. 



The only other Michigan report comes from Mr. John Hazelwood, of 

 Port Huron, who writes: "I saw and shot at a specimen of the Wood Ibis 

 at this place recently. I have shot this species in Texas and Florida, and 

 a man that has once killed a Wood Ibis could always tell one again, especially 

 if he was within 225 feet from it, which I was when I fired two shots at it. 

 But the bird got away, hit quite hard with No. 1 shot. A large white bird 

 with black wing-tips and black tail, is easy to tell. This bird was following 

 in the flight line of migratory birds, and from this place it flew across the 

 river into Canada, going southeast as far as the eye could see." Mr. 

 Hazelwood does not know the exact date of this occurrence, but it was 

 during the fall migration, probably in August. 



The Wood Ibis has been taken several times in Wisconsin, also singly 

 in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio. According to E. W. Nelson it was 

 "very abundant in the vicinity of Mound City, 111., on the Ohio River, 

 and at Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi, the last of August, 1875. One 

 was taken near Cleveland, Ohio, in 1879" (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, 43). 

 Mr. John Hurter states that it was "abundant through August at a small 

 lake in Marion Co., 111., in 1879, but all disappeared about Sept. 5. Counted 

 fifty at one time" (Ibid., VI, 124). 



The Wood Ibis breeds regularly in the Gulf States, and, hke some other 

 water birds, wanders north after the breeding season. The nest is of sticks, 

 placed high up in trees, and the eggs are two to three, white and chalky, 

 with pale spots or stains of brownish; they average 2.74 by 1.80 inches. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult: "Head and neck bare; primaries, secondaries, and tail glossy greenish-black, 

 rest of plumage white. Immature: Head more or less feathered; head and neck grayish- 



