THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 73 



THE BREEDING HAUNTS OF WHITE IBIS. 



By a. J. Campbell, F.L.S. 



(Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, x-^th April, 



1891.; 



Except two eggs I had the honour of describing before the 

 Field Naturalists' Club, nothing has been recorded regarding the 

 nidification of the White Ibis {Threshiomis strictipennis, Gould), 

 the Australian representative of the Sacred Ibis {Ibis religiosa), 

 which was so greatly venerated by the ancient Egyptians, there- 

 fore I here venture to give a slight sketch of an evening's 

 instructive entertainment I enjoyed in company with a friend 

 when I visited a "rookery" or nursery of VVhite Ibises on the 

 Lower Murray last December. 



It has been a summer day in earnest. My friend and I decide 

 to proceed to the home of the Ibises immediately after tea, in the 

 cool of the evening. Reaching the other side of the river we 

 haul our "flatty" or dingy over a narrow strip of land into the 

 swamp beyond. Merrily we pole our tiny boat over the clear 

 mirror-like surface of the lagoon, which is so perfectly transparent 

 that beautiful forms of aquatic weeds are readily distinguished 

 growing below. Lilies with orbicular leaves float upon the 

 tranquil face of the water, and other flowering plants, notably the 

 botanically so-called Limnanthemum, with feathery fringed yellow 

 flowers of sparkling star-like appearance. This placid sheet of 

 water appears hundreds of acres in extent, broken here and there 

 with dark-green rushes, in contrast with the seared and sunburnt 

 rises of the further shore. 



We steer for slightly shoaling ground literally crowded with 

 game and other waterfowl. Soon the scene changes. Black 

 Swans belabour the water's surface with white-pinioned wings. 

 Black Ducks, Shovellers and Teal rise with quacking notes and 

 whirr of wings, and Stilt Plovers with puppy-like bark. How 

 interesting to watch the various flocks wheeling past ! Now 

 again swiftly repassing, but at a safer distance, then they disperse 

 in detachments, while Pacific Herons, with leisurely flight, and a 

 flock of about a score of Nankeen Herons, are likewise on the 

 wing, and surmounting all are companies of Straw-necked Ibis 

 gracefully circling so high that the roseate hue from the western 

 sky behind the deep-coloured fringe of gum-trees is beautifully 

 reflected upon the snow-white breasts of the birds. 



We pole to deeper water in the centre of the swamp, towards a 

 large growth of bulrushes. Approaching these another wonderful 

 revelation confronts us. The whole place is croaking and alive 

 with Ibises of two species — the Straw-necked and the White. The 

 dark-coated Straw-necked Ibis rise first, in companies of about 

 half hundreds, and clear off; the white species, evidently nesting, 



