Spoon-bills 163 



plumage above is black, glossed with shining bronzy green and purple, and 

 covered with numerous bars of dull black, while the breast, abdomen, and tail 

 are pure white. This splendid Ibis appears to be generally, though somewhat 

 erratically, distributed over the whole of this immense territory, being present 

 in a locality in countless thousands one year and entirely absent the next and 

 perhaps for half a dozen years, its coming depending on the abundance of animal 

 food. It inhabits the open downs and flats, particularly such as are studded with 

 shallow lagoons, through which it wades knee-deep in search of mollusks, frogs, 

 newts, and insects, and it also feeds on grasshoppers and insects generally. It 

 " walks over the surface of the ground in a stately manner," says Gould, "perches 

 readily on trees, and its flight is both singular and striking, particularly when 

 large flocks are passing over the plains, at one moment showing their white 

 breasts and at the next, by a change in their position, exhibiting their dark- 

 colored back and snowy white tails." The note is described as a loud, hoarse, 

 croaking sound, which may be heard at a considerable distance. The Straw- 

 necked Ibis nests in colonies, often of vast size, one recently visited by Mr. D. Le 

 Soue'f in Riverina, New South Wales, in a swamp about four hundred acres in 

 extent, being estimated to contain fully 100,000 birds. The nests were placed on 

 low bushes, which were trampled down by the birds "into rough platforms to 

 within six or nine inches of the water, whereon they constructed green twig nests 

 about six inches across by two inches deep." The nests, which are mostly un- 

 lined, number from a dozen to thirty to each clump of bushes, while the eggs, 

 from three to five in number, are dull white, of coarse texture and pitted surface. 



Glossy Ibis. The only other species we shall have space to mention is the 

 Glossy Ibis (Plegadis autumnalis) and its closely related forms. This bird, 

 found throughout the warmer parts of the Eastern Hemisphere and the southern 

 portions of the eastern United States and the West Indies, is about twenty-four 

 inches in length, and has the neck, back, lesser wing-coverts, and under parts a 

 rich chestnut color. The feathers about the base of the bill are blackish, the 

 bill blackish, and the legs greenish or dusky, points which distinguish it from 

 the White-faced Glossy Ibis (P. guarauna), in which these feathers are white, 

 the bill dusky red, and legs dull lake-red. This latter species is found throughout 

 tropical America in general and western North America. The eggs of these 

 species are a plain greenish blue, but their habits are otherwise similar to those 

 of the other species described. 



THE SPOON-BILLS 



(Family Plataleidtz) 



Although structurally similar to the Ibises, the Spoon-bills are at once dis- 

 tinguished by the form of the bill, this being nearly straight, flattened, narrow in 

 the middle, then expanded out into a broad, spoon-shaped extremity. The head 

 is partially or entirely bare, and the nostrils longitudinal in grooves, which extend 

 with more or less distinctness to the apex of the bill. The wings are large, 



