178 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



been known to nest in that State in many years 

 is on the Audubon Society's bird-island in 

 Orange Lake. As many as seven pairs have 

 built their nests here in a season. 



In April, iqi4, I hid in the top of a willow 



Cnurtesy of Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 

 WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS (J nat. size) 

 He is capable of a flight of ten or twenty miles in search of breakfast 



tree on this island to watch the actions of the 

 thousands of nesting Herons and White Ibises 

 in the bushes below and about me. While thus 

 concealed I had the good fortune to see six of 



these rare birds. At a distance they appear to 

 be dull black, but upon coming closer the plu- 

 mage was seen to possess a rich metallic luster 

 that shone with various hues of green and purple 

 as the birds turned in the sunlight. One that lit 

 in a bush nearby had a white face which marked 

 it as a White-faced Glo:.sy. The nests were built 

 in the bushes in a manner similar to that of the 

 other Herons and Ibises. They were very sub- 

 stantial structures of sticks and twigs. 



The (ilossy Ibis is the species most generally 

 supposed to be found in the West Indies and 

 Florida, the White-faced Glossy on the other 

 hand being regarded as a western bird. The 

 latter breed in the extensive marshes of Malheur 

 Lake in southeastern Oregon, making their nest,; 

 in the interminable jungles of the tule reeds that 

 here cover the marshes far and wide. 



They are gregarious birds at all times and after 

 the nesting season wander about from one feed- 

 ing ground to another. The people of the Mal- 

 heur country esteem them highly as food, and 

 despite the law thev are at times killed and eaten. 

 In the coastal regions of Texas these Ibises are 

 met with in various sections and here also they 

 are shot. " Black Curlew " is the name by which 

 gunners usually know them. They frequent the 

 low, moist grounds about lakes, or over-flooded 

 meadows. Often the feeding grounds are long 

 distances from their nests, but the Glossy Ibis 

 is a good flyer and quite capable of taking a 

 flight of ten or twenty miles to get its breakfast. 

 The food consists of crustaceans, especially craw- 

 fish, and water insects of various kinds. Frogs 

 at times fall beneath the lightning stroke of the 

 long curved bill. There should be a strong law 

 in every State where this elegant wader is found, 

 making the deed of killing one a misdemeanor 

 punishable by heavy fine — and the law should 

 be rigidly enforced. T. CiILhert Pear.son. 



WOOD IBIS 



Mycteria americana LiniKnis 



A, O U. Number i88 



Other Names. — American Wood Stork ; Colorado 

 Turkey: Goard, or Gourd. Head; Iron Head; Gannet. 



Description. — Length, 4 feet. Anui.TS : IV liitc ; wing- 

 quills. I^riiiiary coverts, and tail, glossy grccnish-black : 

 the bald head and neck, grayish-blue, creamy, and yel- 

 lowish ; bill, dusky along ridge, dingy yellowish on sides 

 and below; le.gs, bluish-gray; iris, dark brown. Young: 

 Dark gray with blackish wings and tail : head and neck, 

 downy feathered, becoming bald after first molt. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: .\ platform of sticks in 

 trees, sometimes 100 feet up; the same sites are occupied 

 every year and the nests sometimes become very bulky 

 from the addition of material each season. Eggs: 2 or 

 3. white. 



Distribution. — Temperate and tropical .America from 

 southern California, Arizona. Texas. Ohio valley, and 

 South Carolina south to .'\rgentina : casual north to 

 Montana, Wisconsin, New York, and Vermont. 



