^°'i4^" ] Mi )RSE, Birds of the Morcc District. 37 



On almost every Irii) we made to \arious ])oints in tliis vast 

 expanse of swamjjs the birds were seen, but no sign of a nest 

 was found. To help us in the quest, we questioned every ])erson 

 we met living anywhere near the wet area. ]\Iost of them did not 

 even know the bird. We were fortunate in at last meeting Mr. 

 S. A. Freeman, who has a block of land in the Ibis country, and 

 a telephone message on December 2nd from him to the efifect 

 that "Glossy Ibises were going to and fro past his camp daily, 

 and apparently their headquarters was at a large Straw-necked 

 Ibis rookery," had ^Ir. F. McCallum, R.A.O.U. (who hap- 

 pened to be with me at the time), quickly prei^aring for a trip. 

 We reached Mr. Freeman's camp next day about 2 p.m., and 

 started a mile walk through shallow water towards the poly- 

 gonum swamp, in which the Straw-necks (Thrcskiornis spiiii- 

 collis) were breeding. This swamp covers a large area, through 

 which we hunted for the remainder of the afternoon, but could 

 not even see a bird of the Glossy species. We returned to camp 

 very disappointed, but decided next day to work the northern 

 portion of the swamji on which we had not yet touched. Carry- 

 ing out these intentions, we had no sooner reached the polygonum 

 bushes than a flock of Glossies rose just in front of us. Hurry- 

 ing over to the spot, we could see several nests, mostly containing 

 recently hatched young or eggs just chipping. One nest con- 

 tained four egg^ and one young just out of the shell. In all we 

 counted seventeen nests in close proximity, but could find no 

 more further out. The nests were all very low down from two 

 feet to six inches above the water, well back in the bushes, an 

 outer ring of Straw-neck and White Ibis nests almost obscuring 

 them from view. They were all built of the green, wiry ends 

 of the polygonum bushes. After taking a few photos, all of 

 which I lost through dropping the camera in the water, we made 

 back to the camp, and that afternoon walked a couple of miles 

 in another direction, hoping to locate some more Glossies in that 

 quarter, but without success. 



Xext day, when six miles on the homeward track, we pulled 

 up, leaving the car by the roadside, walked about two miles 

 through fallen belar to another portion and (juite a different 

 type of swamp lands. In this place the channel was not more 

 than a quarter of a mile wide, but a dense growth of eumung 

 (Acacia varians) trees, with their spreading branches, almost 

 covered up the water way. These trees do not grow more than 

 30 feet in height. 



We were no sooner in this area than we were in the midst of 

 hordes of birds — Egrets, Herons, Spoonbills, Cormorants and 

 White and Glossy Ibis. The last were in great numbers, and 

 nests were in evidence on all sides. Some contained large 

 young, which on our approach, scrambled away up the branches. 

 Other nests were in process of construction, and there were eggs 

 and young in all intermediate stages. Having satisfied ourselves 



