44 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Captivity. — Young birds can be easily tamed, but never attain the 

 deep scarlet plumage of the free bird. 



Dr. Max Schmidt ( 1880) speaks of a bii-d which had been in captivity 

 10 years, 5 months, and 14 days, and was then still living. Pelzeln 

 (1871) mentions another brought from Brazil bySpixand Martins, that 

 lived 14 years. Adult birds soon lose their brilliant plumage, fading 

 or rather moulting into the rose livery. This fact has been observed 

 by many writers. Mr. Beebe (1909) gives the following account: 



I obtained a bird from an Indian who had broken its wina; and had cared for 

 it until it recovered. It was in full adult plumage, scarlet from tip of beak 

 to tip of toe. Shortly after placing it in the flying cage in the New York Zoo- 

 logical Park it moulted all the feathers on the head and neck, and a scattering 

 through the scapulars, coverts, and back. The new plumage, with the exception 

 of the lesser coverts, came in pale salmon instead of the original brilliant scarlet, 

 and at the present date the contrast is striking. The salmon tint of the new 

 plumage is exactly that of another individual, which has been in captivity since 

 February, 1905, and has now, (December, 1909) passed through five annual 

 moults. So in the case of my ibis, the loss of color was not gradual but sudden, 

 and its cause was certainly not due to absence of sunlight, heat, or moisture. I 

 am not yet prepared to say, however, that change in food alone was the cause. 



Whether a diet of fish and frogs would prevent this fading as Dr. 

 Th. Lorenz (1871) asserts has not, so far as I know, received con- 

 formation. 



A, D. Bartlett (1866) records an instance of a female scarlet ibis 

 that preferred to mate with a male white ibis rather than one of its 

 own species. He writes: 



A female of this bird has been in the aviary with other birds since March, 1864; 

 and not withstanding that there were three of her own species in the same aviary, 

 she paired with a v.iiite ibis in June last. These two birds built a nest upon the 

 ground, composed principally of twigs, pieces of birch broom, sticks, etc., upon 

 which was laid an egg of a pale green, thickly spotted and blotched with a dirty- 

 brown color. The egg was constantly attended by both birds, and the nest was 

 raised considerably under the egg by the constant addition of material, the egg 

 being rolled from side to side as the sticks, etc. were placed under it. This raising 

 the nest continued for about 10 days, after which time the birds began to incu- 

 bate, taking turns on the egg. After setting four weeks, the egg was found to 

 be addled, and was removed in order to save the specimen, which is now on the 

 table. 



Kev. Charles B. Dawson (1917) gives the following accoimt of a 

 wounded bird which he placed in an aviary with several other birds : 



I turned him into a large aviary wherein were already established a few tame 

 pigeons and wild doves, a bahama duck, a hanaqiia, and a tinamou. Here his 

 long beak gained for him a deference which its weakness and bluntness scarcely 

 warranted. The pigeons would scatter at his awkward approach, but I soon pro- 

 tected their particular dominical with a few narrow strips of wood. In an avi- 

 ary, birds soon settle themselves down in a particularly corner which they defend 

 with all the sense of justice lying behind proprietary rights. And so in this case, 

 for this ibis is an amiably-disposed bird, and having taken up a specially selected 

 corner, he lived in peace with his novel associates. 



