200 BRITISH BIRDS [vol. vi. 



A SACRED IBIS IN ESSEX. 

 To the Editors oj British Birds. 



Sirs, — On or about August 21st, 1912, an Ibis (apparently /. cethio- 

 pica, but possibly I. melanocephala), evidently immature, was shot at 

 Danbury, Essex, by a game-keeper named Arthur Wheeler, employed 

 by Mr. J. C. Spencer-Phillips, of Riffhams, Danbury. The l)ird was 

 first seen squatting in a hedge, apparently in an exhausted condi- 

 tion. It is now stuffed and being mounted by Messrs. Leech, of 

 Chelmsford, through whose kindness I have been able to examine 

 it. Although it shows no signs of having been in confinement, there 

 can be scarcely a doubt that it is really an " escape " ; for there is 

 no well-authenticated record of the occurrence in Britain, or even 

 in Europe, of either of the white Ibises. I have ascertained that no 

 such bird has escaped recently from the Zoological Society's Gardens ; 

 but the Duke of Bedford (who has some of these birds flying wild 

 at Woburn Abbey) has been good enough to have me infonned that 

 one was missed at the beginning of September and might have escaped 

 some time earlier. It seems almost certain, therefore, that this is 

 the bird shot at Danbury. Assuming this to be the case, the fact 

 that the bird's wanderings (extending over some fiftj'^-five miles, the 

 distance from Woburn to Danbury) were more or less to the south- 

 eastward (that is, m the direction of its natal region), may be noted for 

 what it is worth. Miller Christy. 



[It would be a considerable service to ornithology if such birds 

 which are liable to escape or are intentionally liberated, were " ringed " 

 by those who keep them in captivity or semi-captivity." — Eds.] 



