WHITE IBIS. 139 



CHAPTEE CXXXIII. 



WHITE IBIS. 

 (Ibis Molucca, Cuvier.) 



The White Ibis claims special notice. It is a noble bird, 

 with the upper portion of the head naked, and of a dark 

 bluish-black in colour, and, as our plate shows, some 

 pinkish marks on the back of the neck. The White Ibis 

 is slightly larger than the Straw-necked Ibis, with the 

 bill rather more curved than the latter species. In 

 height, when erect, it is about 22 inches, and is mostly to 

 be found in swamp country, although I have frequently 

 seen it on dry box country, and in company with the 

 Straw-necked Ibis. 



The Ibis is a voracious feeder, and the amount of the 

 food which it consumes is, for the size of the bird, simply 

 wonderful. Mr. Campbell, in his valuable book, Nests 

 and Eggs of Australian Birds, gives some interesting 

 particulars of a visit made by him, during a trip with 

 Mr. Geo. Morton, the well-known Benjeroop naturalist, 

 to the breeding-grounds of this fine species. The following 

 is taken from the article in question : 



' We pole to deeper water in the centre of the swamp, 

 towards a large growth of bulrushes. Approaching these, 

 another wonderful revelation confronts us. The whole 

 place is alive and croaking with Ibises of two species the 

 Straw-necked and the White. The dark-coated Straw- 

 necked Ibises rise first, in companies of about half -hundreds, 

 and fly away. The White species, evidently nesting, is 

 reluctant to follow suit. But they are compelled to move 

 when we shoot the prow of our boat into the rushes smongst 

 their nests. The nests are picturesquely grouped on 



18720. r , 



