138 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



besides being introduced possibly for the sake of 

 rhyme as suggested by the editor of the 4th edition 

 of ' Yarrell,' was intended to affirm the fact that 

 a real Curlew in any state of plumage would always 

 command a shilling in the market ; at all events, the 

 Glossy Ibis is now a very casual and uncommon 

 visitor to our Islands. My own acquaintance with 

 this bird is limited to the island of Corfu and Spain, 

 in the former locality a few of this species were often 

 to be observed on the so-called race-course, a swampy 

 flat near the town, during the months of March, 

 April, and May. In Andalucia, although it occa- 

 sionally breeds in small numbers, I have not seen 

 it in any abundance, and I saw a solitary individual 

 on the muds of the harbour of Santander in May 

 1876. In flight at some distance the Glossy Ibis 

 somewhat resembles the Cormorant, when searching 

 for food its manners remind me much more of 

 the Herons and Storks than of the Curlews, though 

 I have generally found it quite as wary as the latter 

 birds. On one occasion, when posted in a dry ditch 

 for a Bustard-drive in the corn-lands at a short 

 distance below Seville in April 1864, I was suddenly 

 aware of a small string of dark-coloured birds coming- 

 in my direction at a considerable height, I imagined 

 them to be Cormorants, and was puzzled to know 

 what could have brought them at that season of the 

 year to such a distance from the sea ; however, before 

 coming within shot of me, they gave me a broadside 

 view by turning to the right of their previous course, 

 and I at once recognized them as Glossy Ibises ; they 

 passed within range of the ambush of one of my 

 companions, who, being neither an ornithologist or 

 a keen sportsman, was fast asleep with his mouth 



