644 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



bill was killed near Portland, Jay County, July 14, 1889. Soon after 

 it was taken its capture was reported to me by Mr. R. E. Kirkman, of 

 Richmond, Ind., who investigated the record. He informed me that 

 the specimen was preserved and was in possession of a gentleman at 

 Bryant, Ind. It is possible that in the early days of our history these 

 birds may have been regular summer visitors, or possibly summer resi- 

 dents. Mr. Ridgway reports them from southern Illinois. 



XII. FAMILY IBIDID^E. IBISES. 



a 1 . Head of adult wholly naked anteriorly; no crest; claws curved. GUARA. 30 



a 2 . Head of adult feathered except space between the eye and bill; crown with a 



short crest; claws nearly straight. PLEGADIS. 



30. GENUS GUARA RKICHENBACH. 

 a 1 . Plumage white. Gr. alba (Linn.). 61 



61. (184). Guara alba (LINN). 



White Ibis. 



Adult. Pure white (sometimes tinged with pink in the breeding 

 season or in freshly killed specimens); the tips of longer primaries 

 glossy greenish -black; bill bare, skin of head, legs and feet, bright 

 carmine in the breeding season, at other times paler or orange-red; iris, 

 fine pearly blue; end of the bill, sometimes blackish. Young. Gray- 

 ish-brown, the rump, tail coverts, base of tail, and under parts, white. 



Length, 21.50; wing, 10.30-11.75; bill, 4.15-6.30; tarsus, 3.10-4.00. 



RANGE. America from Brazil and West Indies to North Caro- 

 lina, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, Great Salt Lake, Lower Cali- 

 fornia. Casually to Long Island, Connecticut and South Dakota. 

 Breeds from South Atlantic and Gulf States south. 



Nest, among reeds in marshes, of sticks and reeds compactly woven 

 together. Eggs, 2-3; ashy-blue, irregularly stained, spotted or blotched 

 with yellowish, reddish and brown; 2.24 by 1.48. 



Rare summer visitor. 



All that have ever been reported in Indiana have been observed 

 in Knox County. Mr. E. J. Chansler says an uncle of his killed 

 one of these birds over fifty years ago in that county, and he also notes 

 that Dr. Smith, of Bicknell, killed one in 1864. The third known 

 account of their occurrence in the State is by Mr. Robert Ridgway. 

 He informs me that he and Mr. William Brewster saw a considerable 

 flock on the Wabash River, near Mt. Carmel, 111., about the 8th of 

 May, 1878. They flew up on the Indiana side, and down along the 

 Illinois side of the river. At that time they should have been not far 



