38 BULLETIN 135^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



their black plumage, interspersed with many in all the brilliance of age. They 

 seemed little troubled at our approach, merely flying a few steps forward, or cross- 

 ing the stream. Continuing on, the flocks increased in size; the red birds be- 

 came more frequent, the canes bent beneath their weight like reeds. Wood ibises 

 and spoonbills began to be numerous. The nests of all these filled every place 

 where a nest could be placed; and the young ibises, covered with down, and 

 standing like so many storks, their heavy bills resting upon their breasts and 

 uttering no cry, were in strong contrast to the well-feathered spoonbills, beauti- 

 ful in their slightly roseate dress, and noisily loquacious. Passing still onward, we 

 emerged from the canes into trees; and here the white herons had made their 

 homes, clouding the leaves with white. Interspersed with these were all the 

 varieties mentioned before, having finished their nesting, and being actively en- 

 gaged in rearing their young. We had sailed above a mile, and at last, seeming 

 to have approached the terminus, we turned and went below a short distance to 

 a convenient landing, where we could pursue our objects at leisure. The boat- 

 men at once made their dispositions for basketing the young birds; and soon, 

 by shaking them down from the nest, and following them up, had collected as 

 many as they desired. We wandered a long distance back, but the nests seemed, 

 if anything, more plentiful, and the swarms of young more dense. At the sound 

 of the gun the birds in the immediate vicinity rose in a tumultuous flock and 

 the old ones circled round and round, as though puzzled to understand the danger 

 they instinctively feared. In this way they offered beautiful marks to our skill; 

 and the shore near the canoe was soon strewed with fine specimens. Evidently 

 this place had been for many years the haunt of these birds. Not a blade of 

 grass could be seen; the ground was smooth and hard and covered with 

 excrement. 



Eggs. — The number of eggs per clutch is usually two, sometimes 

 three, and rarely four. F. P. and A. P. Penard (1908) describe the 

 yolks as being very red, "peculiarly resembling blood/' and the albu- 

 men as thinner than that of a hen's egg. 



In size as well as in color the eggs resemble those of the white ibis, 

 Guara alba. They vary in shape from oval and short ovate to 

 elliptical ovate. The ground color is grayish, bluish, or greenish, 

 rarely yellowish white, spotted, smeared, and blotched with dull 

 blackish brown, red-brown, and paler shades of brown, chiefly around 

 and at the large end, where the markings frequently form a blotch. 

 Some eggs are almost entirely unspotted while others are covered all 

 over with blotches, smears and spots. These markings can be almost 

 entirely removed by washing. Naturally unspotted eggs are rare. 

 Examples with a ring at each end, or at the small end only, are 

 extremely rare. Occasionally runt eggs are found. 



The measurements of 135 eggs in my collection, all taken at Her- 

 mina-flats near Coronie, Surinam, in June, 1902, average 56.4 by 37.3 

 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 64.3 by 

 37.3, 59.2 by 41.7, 50.0 by 37.6, and 54.4 by 33.0 millimeters. 



Young. — F. P. and A. P. Penard (1908) state that the period of 

 incubation is 24 days and that both sexes incubate. The chicks are 

 born helpless and remain in the nest where they are cared for by both 

 parents. When old enough to shift for themselves the young birds 



