fruiii the coIo)nj of Xulal, in South-eastern Africa. 219 



gregarious, and feed at low water on the mud-banks ; they utter 

 precisely the same note as the Curlew in England, and their 

 habits appear to be the same. 



116. Geronticus CALviis, Bodd. South-African Bald Ibis. 

 Male and female. Top of the head bright red ; bill and legs 



duller red ; skin of the neck, and round the eye, greenish-white. 



These birds feed entirely on insects, principally beetles. They 

 frequent the open country, and are invariably to be found on 

 land from which the grass has been burnt ; they live principally 

 inland, where they are very numerous, but gradually approach 

 the coast during the winter months. I have not seen them 

 nearer the sea than eight or ten miles ; they are exceedingly 

 war}'', and it is a difficult matter to get within shot of them, as 

 they generally prefer the bare open plains, without cover, to feed 

 on ; they walk about very fast, and are constantly on the move 

 from morning till night. I imagine they must eat a great quan- 

 tity of food, for they are always in search of it — not resting now 

 and then, as all reasonable birds do ; they seem to have no time 

 at all for amusement. 



[In Steedmau's ' Wanderings in South Africa,^ vol. i. pp.144 

 & 174, this Ibis is said to nest in companies, in clefts in the 

 rocky sides of precipitous mountains — a situation similar to that 

 selected for nidification by its more northern congener, Geron- 

 ticus comatus. Vide Rev. H. B. Tristram^s paper in ' Ibis,^ vol. ii. 

 p. 78.— J. H. G.] 



117. Threskiornis ^THiopicus (Lath.). Sacred Ibis. 

 Male. Eye dark brown ; legs, bill, and skin of the throat 



black. Stomach contained a quantity of small crabs and cowries. 



These birds frequent the Bay of Natal and the mouths of the 

 rivers along the coast. They are very shy. They feed with the 

 Curlews at low water on the mud-banks; but where they roost 

 I do not know, though I have seen them sometimes sunning 

 themselves on the uj)per boughs of the Mangroves, together with 

 Spoonbills, White Herons, &c. In their tlight they usually 

 form some figure, similarly to the Pelicans, Swans, Geese, &c. 



[In my list of a collection of birds from Ibadan, inserted in 

 the 'Ibis,' vol. i. p. 152, I included this species under Savigny's 



VOL. II. 1^ 



