94 BIRDS 



THE WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS* 



Only the most meager accounts exist of this little 

 known and irregularly distributed species. It remained 

 undiscovered in America until 1817, when ]Mr. Ord took a 

 specimen on the eastern coast of New Jersey. Although 

 at first described under a new name, it is now known to be 

 identical with the Old World species, which thus enjoys a 

 wide and rather remarkable range. (Dawson.) 



The beautiful, lustrous White-faced Glossy Ibis inhabits 

 the southwestern United States and tropical America. It 

 is found as far north as Kansas and west through New 

 Mexico and Arizona to California. In southern Texas it 

 is very abundant, and in some localities along the banks of 

 the Rio Grande swarms by thousands. The nests and eggs 

 of the ibises are quite unlike those of any of the herons, and 

 can be distinguished at a glance. The nests are made of 

 broken bits of dead tules, supported by and attached to 

 broken and upright stalks of living ones. They are rather 

 well and compactly built, quite unlike the clumsy platforms 

 of the herons. The eggs are nearly always three in number. 



The walk of the ibis is quiet and deliberate, though it 

 can move over the ground with considerable speed whenever 

 it chooses. Its flight is lofty and strong, and the bird has 

 a habit of uttering a loud and peculiar cry as it passes 

 through the air. 



The food of the ibis consists mostly of mollusks, both 

 terrestrial and aquatic, but it will eat worms, insects, and 

 probably the smaller reptiles. 



