THE WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS. 



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BISES, of which there are about 

 thirty species, are distributed 

 throughout the warmer parts 

 of the globe. Four species 

 occur in North America. 

 According to Chapman, they are silent 

 birds, and live in flocks during the 

 entire year. They feed along the 

 shores of lakes, bays, and salt-water 

 lagoons, and on mud flats over which 

 the tide rises and falls. 



The beautiful, lustrous White-faced 

 Glossy Ibis inhabits the south- 

 western United States and tropical 

 America. It is found as far north as 

 Kansas, and west through New Mexico 

 and Arizona to California. In southern 

 Texas it is very abundant, and in some 

 localities along the banks of the Rio 

 Grande swarms by thousands. Dr. J. 

 C. Merrill in May, visited a large 

 patch of tule reeds, growing in a 

 shallow lagoon about ten miles from 

 Fort Brown, in which large numbers 

 of this Ibis and several kinds of Herons 

 were breeding. The reeds grew about 

 six feet above the surface of the water, 

 and were either beaten down to form a 

 support for the nests, or dead and 

 partly floating stalks of the previous 

 year were used for that purpose. Dr. 

 Merrill states that it was impossible to 

 estimate the number of Ibises and 

 different Herons nesting here. " Both 

 nests and eggs of the Ibises were 

 quite unlike those of any of the 



Herons, and could be distinguished at 

 a glance. The nests were made of 

 broken bits of dead tules, supported by 

 and attached to broken and upright 

 stalks of living ones. They were 

 rather well and compactly built, quite 

 unlike the clumsy platforms of the 

 Herons. The eggs were nearly always 

 three in number, and at this date were 

 far advanced toward hatching ; many 

 of the nests contained young of all 

 sizes. 



The walk of the Ibis is quiet and 

 deliberate, though it can move over 

 the ground with considerable speed 

 whenever it chooses. Its flight is lofty 

 and strong, and the bird has a habit of 

 uttering a loud and peculiar cry as it 

 passes through the air. 



The Ibis was formerly invested with 

 sacerdotal honors by the ancient 

 Egyptians, and embalmed and honored 

 after death with a consecrated tomb, 

 in common with the bull and the cat. 

 The bird probably owes its sacred 

 character to the fact that its appearance 

 denotes the rising of the Nile, an 

 annual phenomenon on which depends 

 the prosperity of the whole country. 



The food of the Ibis consists mostly 

 of mollusks, both terrestrial and 

 aquatic, but it will eat worms, insects, 

 and probably the smaller reptiles. 



The sexes have similar plumage, 

 but the female is smaller than her 

 mate. 



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