IBISES 71 



GENUS GUARA. 



184. Guara alba (Linn.). WHITE IBIS. 



Size large ; face and chin naked in adults ; head not crested. Adults : 

 tips of wings black ; rest of plumage white, tinted with pink in life. 

 Young : dark brownish except for white belly, rump, and tail coverts ; 

 head and neck specked with dusky. Length : 21.50-27.50, wing 10.30- 

 11.75, bill 4.15-6.30, tarsus 3.10-4.00. 



Distribution. Tropical America, the West Indies, and north to North 

 Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, Great Salt Lake, and Lower California ; acci- 

 dentally to Connecticut. 



GENUS PLEGADIS. 



General Characters. Lores and eyelids naked, rest of head well feath- 

 ered and crown slightly crested ; bill long, scythe-shaped, grooved from 

 nostril to tip ; colors rich purplish brown, with metallic tints. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Feathers at base of bill black autumnalis, p. 71. 



1'. Feathers at base of bill white guarauna, p. 71. 



186. Plegadis autumnalis (Hasselq.). GLOSSY IBIS. 



Like guarauna, but larger, with green instead of red lores, and feathers 

 at base of bill blackish instead of white. Length: 22-25, wing 10.20- 

 11.85, bill 4.30-5.45. 



Distribution. Southeastern United States and West Indies, and warmer 

 parts of Old World ; straggling to New England, Nebraska, and Arizona. 



187. Plegadis guarauna (Linn.). WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS. 

 Lores and eyelids naked, rest of head well feathered ; bill long and 



narrow, gently 

 curved downward, 

 grooved from nos- 

 tril to tip. Adults : 

 lores red ; face 

 whitish; head, 

 neck, shoulders, 

 and under parts 

 dark rich chestnut ; 



crown and wings &v* Fig. 83. 



glossed with iri- 

 descent purplish and greenish. Young : head and neck streaked with white 

 and dusky, and under parts grayish brown. Length : 19-26, wing 9.30- 

 10.80, bill 3.75-6.00, tarsus 3.00-4.40. 



Distribution. Tropical America and western United States, Texas, 

 and Lower California to Oregon, and casually to British Columbia and 

 Florida. 



Nest . Among or on rushes, made of stems of rushes and various 

 other plants. Eggs : usually 3, greenish blue. 



The glossy ibis is a marsh bird, usually seen in flocks varying 

 from a dozen to fifty, circling overhead or wading in the shallow 

 water of a marsh, slough, or irrigated field. At a distance the birds 



