Rosy Ibis of China and Japan. 253 



pairs by themselves. Their nests I have not examined ; but 

 they must be warmly lined, as the older birds have eggs in 

 January and even earlier, when the country is under hard 

 frost, and there is often snow on the ground ; for the young 

 are fully fledged and have the appearance of adult birds by 

 April. (N.B. Pere David mistook them in that month for birds 

 breeding, and believed it even after he had procured a speci- 

 men.) The young retain their grey plumage throughout the 

 summer, associating with adults, even while the latter are 

 continuing their nesting-duties, and moult about October, 

 when they change their attire for a white robe with a tinge 

 only of rosiness, their wings and tail alone remaining the 

 same ; but these get abraded and the former fades, and occa- 

 sionally some quills are cast, to be renewed by others of the 

 early spring suit which these birds of the year put on before 

 breeding. These must therefore be later in commencing op- 

 erations, which dissection shows to be the case. Of the eggs 

 before mentioned, three measured each about 2 inches in 

 length by T25 in breadth; the other two were larger, mea- 

 suring each 2*6 by 1*6. They had a rough surface, and were 

 of a pale bluish-green colour. The man who brought them 

 to me was positive that the larger ones were the eggs of a 

 Crow, the smaller those of a Magpie. 



In its comportment the Ibis is not at all a Heron. I should 

 think its affinities lay rather with the Spoonbills*, or with 

 the larger Tantali, which connect it with the Storks. It has, 

 however, peculiarities of its own, bearing off in different direc- 

 tions ; and I hope I shall be able to learn something more 

 about it. The Chinese are evidently puzzled at its appear- 

 ance when they style it a " Heavenly Goose/' We might 

 be nearer the mark if we said it was a " queer Stork." 



* [There can be no doubt, we believe, that the Ibises and Spoonbills 

 should be united in one family (Plataleidse). Cf. Nitzsch, Pterylography> 

 Engl. Transl. p. 134. Tantalus, however, belongs to the Ciconiidae. — Ed.] 



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