GLOSSY IBIS. 331 



hiding under the skin of a calf, and by building narrow enclosures in 

 which is placed putrid flesh, when the birds flying down and feeding 

 greedily, are unable to take wing again for want of space to get a start 

 by running. But we scarcely see any advantage in such stratagems, 

 since they may be caught with running knots while disabled by repletion, 

 or even, as it is reported, knocked down with clubs ; and in any case 

 we are at a loss to reconcile such persecutions with the protection so 

 wisely granted them both by civilized and savage man. 



In captivity, the Condor is easily tamed if taken young, and does 

 not refuse any kind of animal food whatever, nor do they appear to 

 dread or suff'er in the least from the extreme changes of the climate in 

 Europe and the north-eastern parts of America. But it is almost im- 

 possible to keep the adults, which are always exceedingly wild and mis- 

 chievous. They are incredibly tenacious of life : the bones are so hard 

 as to resist a musket-ball, to which also the thick down of their plumage 

 is impenetrable. They can resist strangulation for hours, even when 

 hanged and hard pulled by the feet. A remarkable fact is that in 

 domesticity they will not refuse water, drinking it in a very peculiar 

 manner, by holding their lower mandible in il for some time, and using 

 it as a spoon to throw the liquid into their throat. The individual 

 represented in our plate was remarkable for playfulness and a kind of 

 stupid good nature. During Mr. Lawson's almost daily visits for the 

 purpose of measuring and examining accurately every part for his 

 engraving, he became so familiar and w^ell acquainted that he would 

 pull the paper out of the artist's hands, or take the spectacles from his 

 nose, so that Mr. Lawson, seduced by these blandishments, and forgetting 

 its character in other respects, does not hesitate to declare the Condors 

 the gentlest birds he ever had to deal with. 



IBIS FALCINELLUS. 



GLOSSY IBIS. 



[Plate XXm. Fig. 1.] 



Tantahis falcinellus, Linn. Syst. i., p. 241, Sp. 2. Gmel. Syst. i., p. 648, Sp. 2. 

 Lath. Ind. ii., p. 707, Sp. 14. Brunn. Orn. Sp. 167. Scop. Ann. i., Sp. 131. 

 Kram. Auslr. p. 350. Borowsky, hi., p. 72. Faun. Helv. Retz, Faun. Snec. 

 p. 171, Sp. 135. NiLSS., Orn. Suec. ii., p. 43, Sp. 160. — Ibis falcinellus, Vieill. 

 Nouv. Diet. Id. Enc. Met. Orn. Temm. Man. Orn. ii., p. 598. Savi, Orn. Tosc. 

 II., p. 327. Nob. Obs. Norn. Wils. Orn. note to No. 199. Id. Syn. Birds U. S. 

 Sp. 241. Id. Cat. Id. Specc. Comp. Wagler, Syst. Av. Ibis, Sp. 1. Roux, 

 Orn. Frov. PI. 309. Goldfuss, Nat. Atlas, PI. 95. — Ibis sacra, Temm. Man. Orn. 



