AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 139 



open, as we discovered after a flock of Bustards had 

 passed withiu a very few yards of his post without 

 any hostile attention on his part ; there were some 

 nine or ten Ibises in this string, and with that 

 exception I do not remember to have seen more than 

 four or five together anywhere. I have received 

 several of the unmistakable richly coloured and 

 roughly grained eggs of this species from the marshes 

 of the Guadalquivir, but never had the good fortune 

 to meet with a nest myself. I gather from the 

 accounts of those who in this respect have been more 

 lucky than me, that the Glossy Ibis generally nests 

 on the surface of the water or mud in reedy jungles, 

 sometimes on low bushes, that the nest is constructed 

 of reeds, sticks, and coarse sedge, that these birds 

 usually breed in large colonies of their own and 

 other species, and that the eggs are from three to 

 four in number; their colour is a very rich greenish 

 blue. I had a Glossy Ibis roasted at Corfu as a 

 culinary experiment, and found its flesh tough, and 

 flavoured with a rank taste of mud. In concluding 

 my notes upon this group of birds, I may mention 

 that in the 'Field' of May 15, 1875, I noticed 

 the record of an occurrence of the Spoonbill 

 (Platalea leucorodia) on the 5th inst. at Great 

 Gransden, Hunts, signed Frank Wallis, but as this 

 village is situated close to the Cambridgeshire 

 frontier of Huntingdonshire, I am not justified in 

 including it even as a bird of our " neighbourhood." 



The Glossy Ibis thrives admirably in this country, 

 if allowed plenty of room to exercise its wings. 



