322 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
are situated in some dry place and secreted among the grass. The 
female lays four or five eggs. ‘The young ones run about to seek 
their food as soon as they leave the shell, receiving no attention from 
their parents. 
The Curlew is of a wild and timid nature. Nevertheless, in 
Senegal, they have been domesticated ; to no great advantage, it is 
true, as their flesh always retains a very marshy flavour. 
Curlews abound all over the globe. ‘They are very common in 
France, where they arrive in the month of Apmil, leaving again in 
August, although sometimes they pass the winter on the coast. Of 
their sojourn in the British Islands the same may be said. A 
beautiful variety of the Curlew is found in America. In shooting 
them the great difficulty is to get within range. The sportsman, if 
well secreted, may occasionally succeed in obtaining a shot by imi- 
tating their call. 
The Ibis (Zdzs) has a long bill, curved in the direction of the 
ground, almost square at its base, and rounded towards the termina- 
tion; the head and neck are bare. It has four toes; the three front 
ones are united at the base by a membrane ; the whole length of the 
back toe rests upon the ground. 
These Birds are inhabitants of the warm regions of Africa, Asia, 
and America; only one species, the Glossy Ibis, being found in 
Europe. They are to be met with in companies of seven or eight 
together, in moist and marshy grounds, and on the banks of large 
rivers, where they catch the worms, water-insects, and small molluscs, 
which form their principal food. They also crop young and tender 
aquatic plants. Their nature being mild and peaceable, they do not 
shift about with that petulance which characterises some of the Gralle, 
but may be observed stationary for hours engaged digging into the mud 
which conceals their prey. Like nearly all other Birds of this order, 
they migrate every year, and undertake long journeys from one conti- 
nent to another. ‘They are monogamous ; and death alone can sever 
the bonds of affection and habit. They usually build their nests on 
lofty trees, but sometimes on the ground; the female lays two or three 
whitish eggs, which hatch in from twenty-five to thirty days. 
There are eighteen to twenty species of the Ibis, of which three 
only merit our attention. These are the Sacred Ibis, the Glossy Ibis, 
and the Scarlet Ibis. 
The Sacred Ibis (dis religiosa, Fig. 126) is about the size of a fowl. 
Its plumage is white, with black at the extremity of the wings and on 
the rump. It has enjoyed celebrity from ancient times, on account of 
the veneration with which it was treated by the Fgyptians. For in 
Se i Fe 
