38o GLOSSY IBIS. 



believed to nest in the Camargue near the mouth of the Rhone, 

 as it undoubtedly does, in wet seasons, in the marshes of Southern 

 Spain. Its great European colonies, however, commence in 

 Slavonia, and are to be found along the valley of the Danube, and 

 thence throughout the Black Sea district to the Caspian. In Asia 

 it ranges to 48° N. lat., and breeds as far south as Ceylon ; while in 

 winter it passes down the Eastern Archipelago to South Australia. 

 It nests in suitable localities in North Africa, and on the east side 

 of that continent its migrations extend to Natal. According to the 

 latest authorities our Glossy Ibis is found in the Eastern United 

 States and the West Indies, but the representative species in North 

 America is P. guaramia, which has a white margin of feathers 

 surrounding the bare space on the forehead. 



Mr. W. E. Clarke found the Glossy Ibis breeding by thousands 

 in the great bird colony on the Obedska ' bara ' in Slavonia ; its 

 nests being constructed of sticks and a few reeds, placed among the 

 lower branches of sallow-bushes, and either on the surface of the 

 water or very little above it. The eggs, 3-4 in number, are oval, 

 and are of a beautiful greenish-blue pitted with slight indenta- 

 tions : average measurements 2 in. by 1*5 in. In India and Ceylon 

 the nests are built in trees, and Col. Legge describes the young 

 as climbing actively among the branches, and clinging so firmly with 

 their feet as to be removed with difficulty. The food consists of 

 small reptiles, crustaceans &c., obtained on the muddy banks of 

 rivers and estuaries ; and, in Africa, of locusts, scorpions and 

 beetles. In its flight the pinions are first moved rapidly, and produce 

 a whizzing sound, after which the bird skims for some distance. 



The adult has the head, neck and under parts deep reddish-brown ; 

 back, wings and tail brownish-black, glossed with metallic-green and 

 purple ; bill dark brown ; bare skin round the eyes greenish-grey ; 

 irides hazel ; legs and feet bronze-brown. Length about 22 in.; 

 wing io*75 in. The sexes are alike in plumage. The young bird 

 has no glossy tints ; and the head, cheeks and neck are streaked 

 and patched with greyish-white. 



The family of the Ibises, of which Flegadis forms a somewhat 

 outlying genus, has no real affinity to the Curlews, with which, owing 

 to a superficial resemblance in the shape of the bill, it was formerly 

 associated. On the contrary, its relationship is with the Storks 

 {CicouiidcE), and, more closely, with the Spoonbills {Plataleidcc). 

 The egg of the vSacred Ibis is similar to that of the Spoonbill, and 

 so are, probably, the eggs of the other typical species. 



