THE IBIS. 



189 



and eggs obtained there, and the nests of the Cormorants and Spoonbills are robbed systematically 

 twice a week during the months of May and June. After that time they are left to hatch out their 

 eggs. Several thousand nests of the Spoonbill were said to be in different parts of the mere at the 

 time of the visit of the above-named gentlemen, and all those that they examined were simply flattened 

 surfaces of broken reed, not elevated more than two or three inches above the level of the swamp 

 The eggs are white with a few pink or brown spots. 



THE SECOND SUB-FAMILY OF THE PLATALEIDJS. THE IBISES 



As before mentioned the Ibises, though closely related to the flat-beaked Spoonbills, differ greatly 



from them in the form of the bill, which is curved like that of a Curlew. They are, moreover, more 



BACKED niis. 



numerous than the members of the preceding sub-family, about thirty species being known. These 

 are found everywhere, excepting in the extreme north, some kinds being resident, whilst others are 

 migratory. Some of the Ibises are very picturesque in colour, and the Scarlet Ibis (Ibis rubra) of 

 South America is really a beautiful bird. The Glossy Ibis (FalcimUus igneus), which has occurred 

 on rare occasions in Africa, is one of the most cosmopolitan of birds, being found in the greater part of 

 the Old World and the New. The most interesting species, however, of this genus is, no doubt, the 

 Sacred Ibis (Ibis religiosa), which is so well known to us as the bird worshipped by the ancient 

 Egyptians, and so often figured on their monuments. It was to them the harbinger of 

 the spring, and heralded the approach of the fruitful season. Brehm writes : " Birds are 

 perfectly aware that they can implicitly trust the Arab. No young scamp ever thinks of 

 robbing their nest ; no sportsman is lying in wait near their bower to kill the newly-fledged 

 youngsters. In the eyes of the Arab, the naturalist, even, who only destroys an occasional pair 

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