56 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



home ; and I have no doubt a few remain near the coast, about the 

 mouth of the Eio Grande, the entire year. 



NuMENius BOREALis, (Forst.) Lath. — Esquimaux Curlew. 



On March 8th, at Corpus Christi, near the mouth of the Nueces, I shot 

 several of these birds. They were seen singly or in groups of three or 

 four. On the northern end of Padre Island, a week later, I saw them 

 in flocks of twenty or more. They were seen alighting on the small 

 islands in the pass, and flying swiftly along the margins of the water. 

 They were quite shy ; a number were shot. 



22—3^—13.75 s 27.00 x 8.50 x 3.40. Mar. 28, Corpus Christi. 



TANTALID^. 



Falcinellus guaeauna, Om. — White-faced Glossy Ibis. 



My experience with the breeding habits of this beautiful bird was 

 unexpectedly large and opportune. On my return to Brownsville from 

 up the river, a hunter brought me, among others, a young bird and 

 some eggs, that I had never seen before, and which, he said, belonged 

 to this bird. The next day. May 15th, I took an ambulance and driver, 

 and this same Mexican hunter, to compel him to make good the stories 

 he had told of the great numbers of birds and eggs to be seen. Down 

 we went, through the chaparral, across the country, by the borders of 

 lagoons and lakes, until we stopped on the edge of an immense salt- 

 marsh, filled with rushes excepting near the shores. All kinds of 

 Herons and water fowl were moving about in all directions, but nothing 

 unusual was seen, there being no indications of an established heronry. 

 When the Mexican stripped and said, "Come on," I dared not back out, 

 and could but do the same, and follow with the gun. The darky driver 

 fairly rolled with laughter, and considered it a good joke. I must say, 

 at that moment I agreed with him. In we went, my leather-colored 

 guide taking the lead, with ray big bag strapped to his head and shoul- 

 ders. The rushes were distant many rods from the shore, in water from 

 three to four feet deep, and stood out of the water about six feet. As 

 we parted the rushes to examine a few nests near the outskirts, a few 

 Herons and Ibises circled and screamed above our heads. I indicated 

 to my guide that I would not shoot until I found an Ibis on its nest. 

 Into the rushes we worked our way, the nests grew more abundant, and 

 we came to openings that would allow us to have a more extended 

 view. I here picked out an Ibis on a nest, fired, and saw the bird drop 

 over; but I was so completely overwhelmed by the sight above and 

 about us, that I was for the time transfixed. A hundred acres of beau- 

 tiful birds, plunging and screaming above the rushes! Just think of it! 

 In ten minutes from the report of the gun, all the thousands of birds, 

 excepting those in our immediate vicinity, were settled again upon their 

 eggs. On every side were nests in great numbers, and birds guarding 

 their eggs or young, allowing us to get within a few feet of them before 



