434 Zoological Society : — 



return about eiglit or nine o'clock. A second expedition is made 

 during the afternoon. Some idea of the quantity of fish caught by 

 these birds may be gathered from what the people told me, that 

 quantities of fine fish were dropped by the old birds when feeding 

 their young, and were eaten by them. A young bird of this spe- 

 cies which I shot in Scinde, disgorged a large quantity of small 

 eels. This Ibis breeds during the month of February. The nest 

 is composed of small sticks, and is placed at the top of the trees. 

 If there are many on the same tree, they are placed pretty close 

 together. They lay three or four eggs, of a dull opake white, 

 nearly 2y^ in. in length, by rather more than 1 ^^^ in. in width. 

 The young birds are able to fly by the month of INIay. I kept a 

 young bird which had dropped from the nest and broken its wing in 

 my garden for three or four months. It was most gentle and quiet, 

 occasionally only snapping its strong beak at any person it did not 

 like. In a short time it recognized the person who fed it, and when- 

 ever he made his appearance it would walk towards him, uttering a 

 piteous cry, flapping its long wings and bowing its head towards 

 him. It was a most ludicrous sight, which many came to see. It 

 was fed on fresh fish, and would not touch any that were at all 

 tainted. Another young bird which I also kept, would devour the 

 bodies of birds brought in for stufling, and did not appear at all par- 

 ticular as to the quality of its food. The stomach of an old bird 

 contained a grassy substance, the remains of fish, and what appeared 

 to be the claw of a small crab. I give a description of a young bird 

 taken on 20th April. The beak dark lead-brown, darkest at the 

 base, which is very thick ; the skin on the face and forehead the 

 same blackish lead-colour ; the feathers on the head brownish-grey ; 

 the feathers on the neck of an ashy-brown, mixed with down. 

 Shoulders ashy, with light brown edges ; scapulars much the same, 

 with much lighter ash edges ; the centres of the feathers darkest in 

 colour ; lesser ^\'ing-coverts brownish-black, with an ashy tinge and 

 light ashy edges ; larger coverts dark greyish-black ; outer webs 

 tipped with whitish ash-colour, and inner webs tinged with the same 

 colour on the edges. Tertials much the same colour as the greater 

 coverts, but tinged with rose-colour. Primaries and secondaries 

 black, with green reflections ; back beautiful pale rose-coloixr ; upper 

 tail-coverts dusky grey ; tail-feathers twelve, black, mth bright green 

 reflections. The breast, belly and sides covered with beautiful white 

 down, interspersed on the breast with some dark ash-grey feathers, 

 and on the sides with white, tinged with delicate rose-colour ; the 

 whole of the back is also covered with beautiful down. This bird 

 was evidently a nestling, the first feathers having scarcely grown 

 enough to cover the body. 



Genus Ibis. 



Ibis papillosa (Temm.). Warty-headed Ibis. 



This Ibis is more common than the Black-headed, and is fond of 

 open places, as well as the sandy shores of the larger streams and 

 rivers. They are seen in flocks in the open country, picking up in- 



