THE GLOSSY IBIS. 45 



The Glossy Ibis lays three to four eggs, in form similar to those of Herons, and 

 varying in size from if to 2 inches in length, by i& to i| in breadth. In regard 

 to the colour of the eggs, " one of the most remarkable things about this species," as 

 Professor Newton has pointed out, " is that it lays eggs of a deep sea-green colour, 

 having wholly the character of Heron's eggs, and it is to be noticed that it often breeds 

 in company with Herons, while the eggs of all other Ibises, whose eggs are known, 

 resemble those of the Sacred Ibis," which are " dingy white, splashed, spotted, and 

 speckled with reddish brown." Canon Tristram has also noted that the Glossy 

 Ibis is a common attendant of the Herons, and he says in one of his chatty 

 articles, that he and his fellow travellers in North Africa, used to compare them 

 to the black sheep in a flock of white ones. It has a habit of consorting also 

 with other gregarious birds, not so nearly related to it as Herons, such as Crows 

 and Pigeons, even feeding with and following the flocks from place to place, as 

 Dr. Leith Adams observed in Malta. 



The Sacred Ibis, " the emblem of Thoth, the scribe or secretary of Osiris, 

 whose duty it was to recount the good and bad actions of the souls of the deceased 

 when ushered into the presence of the God," was embalmed and preserved in 

 enormous numbers by the ancient Egyptians, in their religious ceremonials, 

 specimens of which so mummified are familiar objects in most museums ; but the 

 Glossy Ibis was never, it would appear so treated, nor was it, according to Dr. 

 Leith Adams, ever portrayed on the tombs. 



Both on the ground and on the wing, this Ibis has the actions of a Heron ; 

 flying in flocks, however, in a wedge-shaped formation, more like Geese. Like 

 the Spoonbill it is a silent bird ; but it occasionally emits a hoarse Heron-like 

 croak. 



The food of the Ibis consists of fish, insects, Crustacea, and fresh water mollusca, 

 as well as small reptiles and some vegetable scraps. 



The chicks, which, when hatched, are unable to fly, are covered with close 

 black down, with a white band over the top of the head from eye to eye ; and a 

 yellow and straight (not curved) beak, with a central black bar. If disturbed in the 

 nest when still unfledged, it is said that they will scramble out on to the branches, 

 and climb among them, holding on tightly and tenaciously with their feet, if an 

 attempt be made to remove them. 



The two sexes of the adult birds are similar in plumage, but the female is 

 slightly smaller than the male, and has a somewhat shorter bill. The forehead 

 and front part of the top of the head, as also the lower part of the cheeks, are 

 metallic green ; the head, the neck, the mantle, and the upper back, are coppery 

 red, with purple and green metallic reflections ; the wings and their coverts have 



VOL IV. H 



