ae) TIMEHRI. 
of depositing its eggs. He states that he has often wit- 
nessed this Ibis in the a€t of tumbling the young Egrets 
out of their nests. ; 
The small Egret breeds in vast “ rookeries” along the 
sea-coast, and Mr. MACKINTOSH has seen several square 
acres of low Courida bushes dotted with their nests, 
During the breeding season large numbers of young Egrets 
fall a prey to the black Carrion Vulture, Catharista 
atrata, which may be seen hovering around the breeding 
grounds, on the look out for a chance to swoop down on 
some unguarded nest and carry off its contents. The 
old birds vigorously defend their nests against the attacks 
of the Vulture, but as the scarlet Ibis appears on the 
scene, they immediately desert their charges and fly away, 
The eggs of the scarlet Ibis are three in number and 
very variable both in shape and markings. Usually they 
are spotted and splashed throughout with reddish-brown, 
but sometimes the markings are thickly distributed towards 
the larger end, where they often become confluent and 
form a large circular blotch. In shape, some of the eggs 
are markedly elongate and others quite oval. 
The small Egret makes a very frail platform nest of 
twigs, and its eggs, which are of a dull pale blue colour, 
are a little larger than a pigeon’s. Their breeding season 
in Surinam is in the months of February and March, but 
in this country it is said to be from July to August ; 
possibly there may be two seasons in the year. 
