534 Mr. K. Gibson on the Ornitholof/y of [Ibis, 



329. Harpiprion caerulescens Vieill. Plumbeous Ibis. 

 Since I wrote of this "Banduria" as being not uncommon 



(Ibis, 1880, p. 159), it has gone far to falsify my statement, 

 and its plight seems even worse than tliat of its congener, 

 the preceding species {Theristicus caudatus). From the 

 above-mentioned year (1880) to tlie present date my diary 

 holds only one entry — an allusion to a pair shot on the 

 Vngleses in the winter of 1894, by Mr. Frank J. Matthew. 



Both these " Bandurias " are too wild and shy, I take it, 

 to visit or frequent inhabited localities. Sbonld anyone 

 have an opportunity of examining the railway maps of the 

 Argentine, he will be struck by the amazing network of 

 iron roads which traverse more particularly the Pampean 

 Zone of the Province of Buenos Ayres down to the 

 River Colorado. These, with the development of agricul- 

 ture and the corresponding system of colonies, have in the 

 last thirty years gradually established a barrier no longer to 

 be franked by migrants of the nature of these two Ibises, 

 so conspicuous in appearance, so wild by nature — most 

 emphatically denizens of the utterly lonely wastes. It is 

 therefore a matter of congratulation and gratitude that 

 Mr. Hudson should have put on record his interesting 

 account of their ways and habits whilst they were still 

 with us. 



My former allusion to tiie one nest of the Plumbeous Ibis 

 must continue to be taken as it was written — a strong sup- 

 position without absolute verification. Nor can I now trace 

 the fate of the three eggs therein referred to (probably 

 destroyed for want of satisfactory identification). I am 

 informed that no eggs of the species are to ])e found in 

 the British Museum. 



330. Phimosus infuscatus Licht. Whispering Ibis. 



Of very irregular occurrence, the recorded appearances of 

 the Whispering Ibis in our district are few and far between. 

 In April of 1898 it was observed in flocks passing over the 

 north side of the estancia, " generally a pair in line, followed 

 by other pairs at short intervals, to the number of sometimes 



