XOKTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 39 



form separate flocks, traveling apart from the adults. This habit has 

 been observed by several writers. Schombm*gk (184S) thought it 

 remarkable that the young birds, up to the time they acquired the 

 scarlet hverylivedin companies by themselves. Leotaud (1866) added 

 that the flocks generally consisted of individuals of the same age and 

 were known in Trinidad as a " troupe de flamants gris, " or " flamants 

 roses," or "flamants rouges," according to the state of plumage. 

 More recently F. P. and A. P. Penard (1908) and W. C. van Ileurn 

 •(1912) have also commented upon this habit of segregation. Never- 

 ■theless mixed flocks are not uncommon. 



On September 27, 1921, I watched a flock of about 30 scarlet ibises, 

 a dozen of which were feeding on the exposed flats near a small man- 

 grove island at Braamspunt at the mouth of the Surinam River. The 

 rest were on the island or were perching on the mangroves. Among 

 •the scarlet adults were four in the juvenile brown plumage. There 

 "Was nothing in the behavior of the members of this particular troop 

 ^3Uggesting segregation. 



Mr. Beebe (1909) who has seen great numbers of these birds in 

 -northeastern Venezuela, also makes mention of mixed flocks. He 

 writes : 



These birds were seen only on the Cano San Juan, from the very mouth up to 

 a distance of several miles inland. Not a bird was visible at high tide but with 

 the uncovering of the mud-fiats, the scarlet ibises began to appear singly and in 

 :small flocks. They were, without doubt, the most abundant bird in all the man- 

 .grove region into which we penetrated. In ever}' flock of 30 or 50, some 6 or 8 

 would be birds in the brown plumage. 



Elsewhere Mr. Beebe (1910) speaks of a flock of seven of which 

 two were in fully adult plumage, while the others while the others 

 were only three-quarters grown and feathered wholly in brown and 

 white. He judged from their actions that they were members of a 

 single family. 



Plumages. — Very little is known about the downy young. F. P. 

 and A. P. Penard (1908) described it as blackish above and whitish 

 below. Dr. Hermann Burmeister (1856) writes that the nestling is 

 pale brown with whitish underparts, and Dr. H. Schlegel (1863) de- 

 scribes a very young bird, as having a brown bill with a wide yellow 

 band. 



In the young bird, soon after leaving the nest, the head, neck, 

 mantle, wings, sides of breast, scapulars, and tail are grayish brown, 

 over the darker feathers of which, particularly on the wings, there 

 appears to be a greenish sheen under certain conditions of light; the 

 lesser wing coverts obscurely edged with paler shades; some of the 

 tail feathers edged with white at the base; feathers of head and neck 

 edged with gray; entu*e lower back, rump, thighs, and under parts 

 pure white, including the wing lining, tail coverts, and axillars, the 



