I 

 . 



I 

 SPECIES 3. TANTAL US ALB US. 





WHITE IBIS. 



[Plate LXVL Fig. 3.] 



Le Courli blanc du Bresil, BRISS. v, p. 339, 10. BUFF, vm, p. 

 41. Courly blanc d'Amerique, PI. Enl. 915. White Curlew, 

 CATESBY, i t pl. 82. LATH. Syn. in, y. Ill, tTVb. 9. Arct. Zool. 

 JVb. 363.* 



THIS species bears in every respect, except that of colour, so 

 strong a resemblance to the preceding, that I have been almost 

 induced to believe it the same, in its white or imperfect stage 

 of colour. The length and form of the bill, the size, conforma- 

 tion, as well as colour of the legs, the general length and breadth, 

 and even the steel blue on the four outer quill feathers, are ex- 

 actly alike in both. These suggestions, however, are not made 

 with any certainty of its being the same; but as circumstances 

 which may lead to a more precise examination of the subject 

 hereafter. 



I found this species pretty numerous on the borders of lake 

 Pontchartrain, near New Orleans, in the month of June, and 

 also observed the Indians sitting in market with strings of them 

 for sale. I met with them again on the low keys or islands off 

 the peninsula of Florida. Mr. Bartram observes that " they 

 fly in large flocks or squadrons, evening and morning, to and 

 from their feeding places or roosts, and are usually called Spa- 

 nish Curlews. They feed chiefly on cray fish, whose cells they 

 probe, and with their strong pinching bills drag them out. " The 

 low islands above mentioned abound with these creatures and 

 small crabs, the ground in some places seeming alive with them, 

 so that the rattling of their shells against one another was in- 



* Tanfa/tw o/6tw, LATH. Ind. Om. p. 706, No, 9. GMEL. Syst. ;>. 651. JVo. 6. 



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