60 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



festooned with Spanish moss, and the nests were mostly between 50 

 and 60 feet above us. The birds were not shy at first and we had 

 no difiicuhy in approaching near enough to photograph groups of 

 them perched on the nesting trees or on other tall dead trees in the 

 vicinity. When we began climbing the trees they became more 

 wary, but they perched on the tops of more distant trees and fre- 

 quently flew over us. Some of the trees held only two or three nests, 

 but most of them held from half a dozen to a dozen. The nests 

 were in or near the tops of the trees, mostly well out on the horizon- 

 tal branches and often beyond our reach. They were surprisingly 

 small and flimsy structures, not much larger than well made night 

 heron's nests, ill adapted, it seemed to me, to the needs of such large, 

 heavy birds. The foundations of the nests were loosely made of 

 rather large, dead sticks, on which more substantial nests were built 

 of finer twigs and fresh, budding leaf stems of the cypress; some 

 were also partially lined with green leaves of bay, oak, or maple. Per- 

 haps the nests would be added to, as incubation advances, as is cus- 

 tomary with some of the herons. Most of the nests contained three 

 eggs, some only two, and at least two nests held four eggs. All of 

 of the eggs that we collected were fresh. 



Eggs. — The wood ibis lays usually three, sometimes four, eggs and 

 very rarely five. The shape varies from ovate to elliptical ovate or 

 even elongate ovate. The shell is smooth, but finely granulated or 

 finely pitted. The color is dull or dirty white or cream white, with- 

 out any markings, except occasional blood stains .*^ 



The measurements of 40 eggs average 67.9 by 46 milHmeters; the 

 eggs showing the four extremes measure 73 by 46.2, 64.7 by 64.9, 

 60.8 by 46.8 and 70.9 by 34.3 milUmeters. 



Young. — George M. Sutton (1924) gives the following interesting 

 account of his visit to a colony of wood ibises, in which the young 

 birds were about ready to fly: 



As evening came I noticed that from the hammock far to the westward issued 

 forth strange sounds the like of which I had never heard. I accredited them to 

 alligators and bullfrogs, thinking at the time that Florida 'gators and frogs prob- 

 ably could, and perhaps usually did set up such a disturbance. Although it was 

 so far away, the penetrating quality of the racket made us believe that the sound 

 would be very great close at hand. It was so far distant that we heard but an 

 incessant mumbling, varied occasionally with higher shriller, tones. 



Although I constantly noticed wood ibises issuing in small flocks from this 

 hammock, or returning to it, I never seemed to connect the strange sound with 

 the birds; it hardly seemed credible that birds should make such a noise. But 

 when we visited the 'Gator Lake hammock on March 20, we found that the 

 strange noises of the days before had come from a large "Flint-head" colony. 

 As we approached, the racket increased steadily, and soon we could detect indi- 

 vidual grunts, loud and deep-throated; shrill squeals, incessant and angry; bel- 

 lowing, coughing, deep wheezing, bleating — all in the most unbelievably hurried. 



