138 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xiv. 



peculiarly buoyant manner, but before all flew, one bird stood 

 quite upright and gave a harsh grating call — ■" gra-a-k " — 

 and then the flock would rise and fly off to another part of 

 the marsh (never more than 150 to 200 yards away) giving 

 the same call several times in succession. On one occasion 

 I was close to a bird which gave this call quite gently ; it 

 opened its bill and called " ra-a-k," with the "r" as an 

 aspirate, as if drawing in its breath. 



They were most diligent feeders, but only once, when 

 something white was pulled out of the water, did I see any- 

 thing large eaten ; the bird that pulled it out hopped clumsily 

 out of reach of the others to the grass before eating it. 



In size they differed noticeably : four or five of them were 

 distinctly larger than the rest, and the largest seemed to be the 

 the one that usually gave the alarm. 



In plumage they did not differ greatly, having the head and 

 neck of ruddy brown and back and wings of iridescent green 

 with a purplish-red tinge in places ; but the heads of two 

 (one in particular) were much lighter than those of the others, 

 being yellowish-mottled and quite noticeable as they all fed 

 together. Their long decurved bills usually had a pale 

 glistening appearance, particularly when seen from a distance. 



Their remarkable appearance, especially in flight, and their 

 tameness will probably prove fatal to most of them if they 

 stay long ; but on October ist, as I passed the marsh in a 

 train, I saw that there were still at least two feeding there. 



A. W. BoYr. 



GLOSSY IBIS IN SOUTH DEVON. 



On September 24th, 1920, I had a fine view of a Glossy Ibis 

 {Plegadis f. falcinellus) in immature plumage on the Exe 

 estuary near Dawlish Warren. It was fust seen in the 

 distance as a large black bird, somewhat resembling a 

 Cormorant in flight, but on passing overhead its identity 

 was obvious. As it approached the mud-flats the rapid 

 wing-beats stopped, and the bird planed gently down, settling, 

 near some Black -headed Gulls (L. r. ridihundiis), and starting 

 to feed. In a moment or two the Gulls began to mob the 

 Ibis, which at once rose, and flew to a distant mud-bank, too 

 far away for a clear view even through binoculars. There 

 appear to be about a dozen previous records of this bird for 

 Devon. W. Walmesley White. 



On September 23rd, 1920, I had a good view of a Glossy 

 Ibis feeding along the Exe estuary between Topsham and 

 Turf. On the 27th it was unfortunately shot at the former 



