FAMILY THRESKIORNITHIDAE I23 



The Cayenne ibis is a heavy-bodied bird, found in the depths of 

 wooded swamps, that comes out along shaded channels to walk along 

 the shores or rest in the trees above. Formerly it ranged on the 

 Atlantic slope of the Canal Zone, where McLeannan secured speci- 

 mens along the line of the railroad, but it has not been recorded there 

 since that time. One of these old skins in the British Museum is 

 labeled "Lion Hill." In Bocas del Toro this ibis is found in fair 

 numbers in the wet forests back of Boca del Drago, where it is seen 

 especially along the old canals. Handley in 1962 and 1963 found it 

 common in the swamps of Isla Bastimentos. A few range in the 

 mangrove swamps of Quebrada Nigua and Rio Occidente, but here 

 they remain inside. And so their presence is known mainly from their 

 mellow, rolling calls, heard at sunrise and dusk. Wedel shot one at 

 Chiriquicito on April 18, 1928 (Peters, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 

 71, 1931, p. 304). 



On February 15, 1957, I found one in the wet forest bordering the 

 lower Rio Mandinga in the Comarca de San Bias. With advance of 

 the dry season the swamp was drying, leaving small pools with many 

 fishes, where the bird had been feeding, as indicated by its muddy 

 bill. There is one in the Chicago Natural History Museum from 

 Obaldia in the extreme eastern San Bias. Collectors for the Gorgas 

 Memorial Laboratory secured one on September 15, 1958, in the 

 San Antonio Swamp, east of Pacora, the only record for this area. 



On the Rio Chucunaque in March 1959 these ibises were fairly 

 common from the mouth of the Rio Canglon to the Ucurganti and I 

 collected one for a specimen. I saw them regularly around pools in 

 the quebradas, or in swampy woods where they walked about rather 

 quickly with nodding head, probing in soft mud, often clear to their 

 eyes. So long as I remained quiet they had little fear, as one fed 

 within 15 meters of me. At such times a casual ray of the sun at 

 the proper angle displayed the glossy green of back and crest at- 

 tractively. I heard one calling briefly near Pinogana but saw none 

 above that point on the Rio Tuira. They are known locally in 

 Darien as Coco Roto, and around Almirante as Coco Quam. 



Schonwetter (Handb. Ool., pt. 2, 1960, pp. 104, 107), describes 

 the eggs as deep olive-green. Most are without markings, but some 

 have fine brown or blackish spots or irregular lines on the larger 

 end. The average size is 62.5 X 42.6 mm. Nehrkorn (Kat. Eiersamml., 

 1899, p. 229) gives the measurements of 2 spotted eggs collected by 

 Hauxwell in Peru as 52-53x37-38.5 mm. I have seen no description 

 of the nest. 



