IBIDIS^ — THE IBISES. 108* 



tain extent in color also, that the question has been raised,* 

 whether they are not really offshoots from a common ances- 

 tral stock, which, like a species of eastern Asia {nis nippon) 

 and certain herons, was at one time "dichromatic." 



Guara alba (Linn.) 



■WHITE IBIS, 



Popular synonyms. White Curlew; Spanish Cui-Iow (Florida); Gray Ibis, Brown Ibis 



(young): Coco (Cuba); Ibis bianco (Mexico). 

 Scolopax alia LlNN. 8. N. i, ed. 10, 1758, 145. 



Tantalus atbus Gmel. S. N. i. 1788, ffil.— WrLS. Am. Orn. viii. 181), 43, pi. 6C, 



Jbis alba ViElLL. Nouv. Diet, xvi, 1817, li;.— Xutt. Man. ii, 1831. 8i;.— Aud. Orn. Biog. iii, 



1855, 178; v, 1839. 6'J3, pi. 222; Synop. 1839, 257; B. Am. vi. 1843, 54, pi. 360.— Cass, in 



Baird'8 B. N. Am. 1858, (ai.— Baled, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 499.— CouES, Cheelc List, 



1873, No. 446. 



Eudocimus albua Wagl. Isis, 1832, 1232.— Kidgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881. No.'SOl.— CouES, 



Check List, 2d ed. 1882, No. 651. 

 Guara alba Stejn. Stand. Nat. Hist, iv, 1883. 9.— A. O. 0. Check List, 1880, No. 184.— 



RiDGW. Man. N. Am. B. 13, 1867. 123. 

 Tantalus after LiNN. S. N. i, 17«. 242. 

 Tantalus coco Jacq. Beitr. 1784, 13. 

 Tantalus griseus Gmel. S. N. i, 1788, 653 (youce). 

 Eudocimus longirostris Wagl. Isis, 1829, 760. 



Hab. Warm-temperate eastern North America, West Indies, Middle America, and 

 tropical South America; north to Connecticut, eastern Permsylvanla, IlUnois, and Great 

 Salt Lake, Utah; south to Brazil. 



8p. Chac. Adult: Terminal portion (beyond the emargination) of three to five' outer 

 primaries, glossy greenish black, with a bright metallic green lustre. Rest of the plum.^gn 

 entirely pure white. Bill, bare skin of the head, logs and feet, bright carmine in the breod- 

 ing season; at other times paler, or orange-red; iris line pearly blue (Audubon).^ End of 



> See The Auk. vol. 1, 1881, pp. 239, 240. 



' According to A udubon. ' 'There is a curious, though not altogether general. dlHoronco 

 between the sexes of this species as to plumage.— the male has Ave of its primaries tipped 

 with glossy black for several inches, while the female, which is very little smaller than the 

 main, has only four marked in this manner. On examining more than a hundred individ- 

 ualy 3f each sex, I found only four exceptions, which occurred in females that were very 

 old birds, and which, as happens in some other species, might perhaps have been under- 

 going the curious change exhibited by Sucks. Pheasants, and some other birds, the females 

 of which, when old, sometimes assume the livery of the males." This supposed sexual 

 difference we have been unable to verify with the series before us, though it is very pos- 

 sible that some specimens may not h.ivo the se.x correctly determined. 



'"Bare parts of the head tin the adult male] light orange-red; bill the same, but towards 

 the tip dusky. Iris of a line pearly blue. Legs and toes paler than the bill; claws dusky, 

 tipped with horn color. 



"After the tlrst moult, the bill Is pale yellowish orange, toward the base greenish; the 

 naked parts of the head are pale orange yellow, inclining to flesh-color; the eye dark 

 brown: the feet pale blue. 



"The change in the coloring of the bill, legs, and feet of this bird, that takes place in 

 the breeding season, is worthy of remark, the bill being then of a deep orange-red, aud 

 the legs and feet of a red nearly amounting to carmine. The males at this season have the 

 gular pouch of a rich orange color, and somewhat resembling in shape that of the Frigate 

 I'elican, although proportionally less. During winter those part« are of a dull flesh color. 

 The irides also lose much of their clear blue, and resume in some degree the umber color 

 of the young birds. I am thu- parllciilar In these matters, because it is doubtful if any one 

 else has ever paid attenlion to them." (AUDUBON.) 



— B. 



