GLOSSY IBIS. 523 



Writing of the habits of this bird in India, Mr. Doig remarks (Stray 

 Feath. 1879, p. 377): " In May 1878 I observed these birds in pairs and 

 sent men after them to try and find out their breeding-grounds, but in 

 vain ; and so being unable to go myself, in consequence of work, I was 

 obliged to give up the search. This year, however, in June, I was able 

 to search myself, and found them breeding in great numbers on trees along 

 the banks of the large lakes inside the sand hills, along the banks~of the 

 ' Narra/ The nests were placed on the tops of kundy-trees, and were 

 constructed of sticks, about the size of Plotus melanoyaster ; on the same 

 trees I found Inocotis papillosus and Ibis melanocephala breeding, while 

 close by were numbers of nests of Herons, Egrets, and Cormorants." 

 Legge found this bird breeding in Ceylon, and writes : " In March 1872 

 I found a small colony of these Ibises, numbering about eight pairs, 

 nesting at Uduwila, near Tissa Maha Rama. The nests were placed on 

 thorny trees growing in the half-dried bed of the small tank already 

 referred to in former articles, and the trees chosen were those on which 

 the Shell-Ibises were nesting. The nests were small and mostly made of 

 twigs and grass-roots, almost flat in shape, and placed upon the horizontal 

 forks of small branches high up in the trees. The young were fledged, 

 but unable to fly, and when I approached the trees stood up in the nests, 

 scrambling along the branches and climbing actively about them as I 

 mounted to the nests ; when seized they clung tightly with their feet, and 

 were with difficulty removed. My efforts to keep them alive were not 

 successful, for while several Pelicans and Pelican-Ibises thrived on fish 

 and meat, the Glossy Ibises died, only living two days. When flying 

 away from their nests the old birds made a whizzing sound with their 

 wings/' The Ibis only appears to rear one brood in the year. 



The general colour of the Ibis in summer plumage is brownish chestnut, 

 suffused on the forehead and crown with metallic green, on the back with 

 purple, and on the wings, rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail with both 

 purple and green ; the under tail-coverts are nearly black. Bill greenish 

 brown ; legs and feet greenish grey, claws black ; irides brown ; facial 

 skin slate-grey. The female resembles the male in colour. In winter the 

 underparts are earthy brown, slightly suffused with reddish purple ; the 

 head and the upper half of the neck are earthy brown, each feather margined 

 but not tipped with white. Young in first plumage and birds of the year 

 differ very little from adults in winter plumage, but have much less 

 metallic gloss on the feathers. 



