NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 71 



the wing. All appears confusion when they are first disturbed and rise in the 

 air; they cross each other in the flight, and one would think from below they 

 could not avoid coming in contact; but scarcely have they reached a height 

 of 80 or 100 feet, when order is restored, and they begin flying in circles, rising 

 with each circle higher and higher. When on a more extensive journey, they 

 fly in a horizontal line, and change the leader like the cranes. When feeding 

 on the savannahs, a party is always on the alert while the others seek for their 

 food. 



The haunts and habits of this species are described in Mr. Pember- 

 ton's notes, as follows: 



During October of 1912, while traveling in the southern part of the State of 

 Matto Grosso, central Brazil, jabirus were seen almost daily. The type of 

 country preferred is the open grassy meadowland bordering the great Paraguay 

 River. Due to tropical rainfall this region is wet most of the time and the 

 meadows contain a succession of small ponds, lagoons, and marshes and even 

 where these are lacking the ground itself is moist. Long winding narrow groves 

 of trees which evidently follow old drainage channels separate the meadows 

 into units. Unquestionably these meadows abounded in the usual food of the 

 jabiru for they were only to be found here. 



The bird is not gregarious to the slightest degree, at least, during this season 

 of the year, and single birds or pairs were the only manner in which I saw them — 

 usually single birds. While flying the bill is held close into the shoulders like 

 that of the Pelican, the legs are held straight back. A few slow flaps are followed 

 by a long glide after the fashion of the pelican also and in fact I know of no 

 bird which this species so much resembles when on the wing. It gives the 

 appearance of being a much larger bird on the wing than the pelican, however, 

 and in fact the extent may be greater. 



Hon. Hiram Bingham writes to me of his experience with the jabiru : 



The first jabiru we saw in southwestern Venezuela was about 5 leagues south of 

 Barinas, a town which flourished in the Colonial period. From Barinas we rode 

 south in order to cross the Apure River at its junction with the Suripa. As I 

 have said, about 5 leagues from Barinas we noticed a huge nest in the branches of 

 a very tall tree. One jabiru parent and two chicks were perched on the nest and 

 seemed to have no fear of us at all, although the parent kept up a continuous 

 warning rattle with its long beak. We were impressed by the desolateness of 

 this region. There was probablj^ not a house within 10 miles of the jabiru's 

 nest, perhaps more. There were many monkeys in the jungles near by. We 

 saw the other jabiru parent flying back to the nest just as we were leaving the 

 vicinity. The sight was a splendid one. His great white body glistened in the 

 sun, in striking contrast to the red neck collar. He flew slowly and very 

 gracefully. The next day we crossed the Paguei River, which has a jungle 

 2 miles wide on the south bank. A day or two later we crossed the Canagua, 

 and on February 9, 1906, saw a large number of water fowl and perhaps a score 

 of jabiru. I was so fortunate as to bring a jabiru down with my rifle. He 

 measured, standing, 5 feet 10 inches from the point of his beak to his toes. The 

 wing spread from tip to tip was 7 feet 10 inches. The beak was 12 inches long. 

 The neck had almost no feathers, but a very tough, dark gray skin with a 

 broad red band at its base. I took this skin with me as a trophy, but the red 

 band soon faded out and the skin was finally lost during the course of the next 

 three months of exploration. The body and wings were covered with beautiful 

 white feathers, some of the wing feathers being 14 inches long. At that time 

 these had a commercial value, so that the birds were exceedingly shy, quite as shy 



