GLOSSY IBIS. 605 



front, one behind, the anterior toes united by a membrane as far as the 

 first joint; hind toe long, and resting its length on the ground. Wings 

 moderate, the first quill-feather shorter than the second and third, which 

 are the longest in the wing. 



THERE is good reason to believe that the Green, the 

 Glossy, and the Bay Ibis of authors, with the various 

 systematic names in use among ornithologists, refer only 

 to various states of the same bird, depending on age or 

 season, the difference in appearance inducing the names. 

 Colonel Montagu, who paid great attention to the changes 

 in the colours of plumage dependent on age, sex, and 

 season, appears to have first pointed out the identity of 

 these supposed species of Ibis, and gives the details at 

 considerable length in the Supplement to his Ornitho- 

 logical Dictionary. 



The appearance of the Glossy Ibis in this country, 

 though not uncommon, is still accidental ; the course of 

 its migration for the summer towards the north of Europe 

 being considerably to the eastward in a line from Egypt 

 to Turkey, Hungary, and Poland, to the southern parts of 

 Russia. It is also occasionally seen, on its passage from 

 northern Africa, in Crete, in the Grecian Archipelago, at 

 Corfu, in Sicily, Sardinia, and at Genoa. A straggler is 

 sometimes found in Switzerland, Provence, France, and 

 Holland, but it is considered a rare bird. 



Three specimens have been killed in Ireland, as recorded 

 by N. A. Vigors, Esq. in the first volume of the Zoological 

 Journal. One occurred some years ago in Lancashire, and 

 was preserved for the collection of the late Earl of Derby 

 in that county. According to Montagu "the Ibis is 

 adopted as a part of the arms of the town of Liverpool. 

 This bird is termed a Liver, from which that flourishing 

 town derived its name, and is now standing on the spot 

 where the Pool was, on the verge of which the Liver was 

 killed." The arms of the town of Liverpool are, how- 



