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ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 



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According to Nuttall, specimens were in his day occasionally seen exposed for sale 

 in the market of Boston ; and individuals had been at distant intervals shot off 

 Long Island and on the shores of New .Fersey. From time to time straggling speci- 

 mens are captured on the Massachusetts coast. Several were thus taken on Cajie 

 Cod in the fall of 1878; and individuals, undoidjtedly of this species, were seen dur- 

 ing the same season on I'rince Edward Island by Mr. Frank L. Tilestou; it also 

 occurs in the West India Islands. 



At very irregular periods in the spring small flocks have been seen on the coasts 

 of the Middle States and on the eastern shore of Maryland and N'irginia. Mr. .7. A. 

 Allen states (Am. Nat. III. (i.'iT) that a specimen of this l)ird was taken in Nantucket 

 in September, 180!). Dr. Charles Palmer writes to the "Naturalist" (V. i). 120) that 

 one was obtained by him near Lake Winnepisseogee, in the town of Alton, N. H. 

 It was an old bird in full j)lunuige. 



In Europe this species is supposed to be more common in the eastern than in the 

 western i)ortion. The course of i^s migrations for the summer toward the north of 

 Europe is said to be chiefly in a line from Egypt to Turkey. Hungary, and Toland, 

 and to the southern parts of Russia. It is occasionally seen, on its passage from 

 Northern Africa, in Crete, the (irecian Archipelago, in Sicity, Sardinia, and Genoa. 

 Stragglers are found in Switzerland, France, Holland, and Great Britain ; but in all 

 these countries it is a rare bird. In England, though not uncommon, it is always 

 accidental. Yarrell mentions about fifteen instances of its having been taken in 

 England, three in Ireland, and one in Scotland. It has also been known to occur in 

 Dennuirk ; and in Sweden also, although here but very rarely. 



Specimens were obtained by Dr. Andrew Smith in Africa as far south r.,s the Cape 

 of Good Hope. It is migratory in Egypt, where it appears to have been once held ni 

 high veneration, although it is not the bird commonly known as the Sacred Ibis. It 

 was met with by ^Messrs. Dickson and Ivoss at Erzeroom. in the vicinity of the river; 

 and in the Kussian expedition it Avas found in the countries between the lUack and 

 the Caspian Seas. It has also been taken near Calcutta, in Thibet, and Nepal. Tem- 

 minck assigns it to Java, Sunda, and the neighboring islands; and, Anally, Mr. (Jould 

 states that this species has been found in every part of the vast region of Australia 

 known to him. 



In the portions of Europe where this bird is most alnmdant, it is found to live 

 principally on the banks of rivers and on the shores of lakes, or on muddy flats which 

 are occasionally flooded. It feeds on suuiU reptiles, the fry of flshes, small Crustacea, 

 and aquatic insects. 



Mr. Dresser mentions this species as having been found by him in great numbers 

 on the lagoons near Matamoras, in the month of August ; appearing there somewhat 

 earlier than the "White Ibis. He obtained quite a number of specimens, and one Avas 

 sent to him from Fort Stockton in a collection formed by Mr. P. Dutty. 



Although Captain Iiendire did not meet with this S[)ecies in Oregon, he had no 

 doubt that it ranges within the State, as it was found breeding at Quinn liiver Cross- 

 ing, in Nevada, only twenty miles from the State line. Lieutenant "Wood, U. S. A., 

 procured an example in that locality, July 1"). 1875, and on that occasion saw some 

 forty of these birds with young still unable to fly. 



Eggs of this species in the Smithsonian Institution (1895) obtained by Dr. Bean 

 at ISIecanopy, Florida, are of a rounded oval shape, slightly smaller at one end than 

 at the other, and of a uniform very light shade of Prussian blue. They measure 1.90 

 inches in length by 1.38 in breadth. Yarrell describes the European egg as being 

 of a very delicate pale blue, and 2 inches in length by 1.50 inches in breadth. 



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