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THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



NESTING OF WHITE-FACED GLOSSY 

 IBIS. 



It was in the early spring of 1892, while 

 hunting among some marshes and lakes in 

 the northern part of San Diego county, 

 Cal., I cauie upon a small flock of Ple- 

 i^adis giiaiaujia, White-faced Glossy Ibis, 

 quietly feeding along the margin of a shal- 

 low pond. 



By a little strategy I succeeded in ap- 

 proaching within easy range, and discharg- 

 ing both barrels, caused three of the flock 

 to remain behind fluttering helplessly in 

 the water. They were "beauties," with 

 their variable bronze plumage, glittering 

 and shining in the sunlight. While ab- 

 sorbed in examining and admiring the 

 beautiful birds, a Mexican cattle-herder 

 rode up and noted my capture. I remarked 

 that the birds were quite uncommon and 

 "hard to get, " and indicated my pleasure 

 at securing the specimens before me. To 

 which he replied that the "Gruse, " as he 

 called them, were there by the thousands a 

 couple of months later on — in early sum- 

 mer — that I should come up at that time if 

 I wished to secure a wagon load of the 

 specimens. 



This was a key which I did not fail to 

 note. Surely if the birds were there in 

 large numbers during the summer months 

 their breeding grounds could not be far dis- 

 tant. Moreover I had read enough of their 

 habits to know the present locality was an 

 excellent breeding site for the Ibis, owing 

 to the countless acres of dense tules grow- 

 ing far out into the lake. I mentally re- 

 .solved therefore to be on hand a few months 

 later on and see. 



Owing to bu.siness in other parts of the 

 State I was unable to revisit the place until 

 the middle of the following July. When 

 within a quarter of a mile of the lake I 

 was posse.s.sed with a thrill of delight, for T 

 could plainly see numbers of the birds cir- 

 cling around and hovering over the tules. 

 On still nearer approach I saw hundreds of 

 the birds feeding along the shore, and a 



continuous flight in both directions be- 

 tween the tules and the feeding grounds. 

 It took me but a few moments to "shed" a 

 good portion of my clothes, strap a basket 

 over my shoulders — containing cotton and 

 a couple of lead pencils — and wade in. 



It look the colony about one minute to 

 discover the presence of a stranger and 

 enemy in their midst, and they circled over 

 me in vast numbers, uttering jerky, squak- 

 ing cries of three syllables, rapidly re- 

 peated. I pushed in among the tangled 

 mass of tules and soon came upon a nest 

 compactly built of dry tules and reeds. It 

 was situated about two feet above the 

 water, and had apparently been laid upon 

 an original foundation of growing tules 

 which had been broken and bent over to 

 form the basis of construction. It was 

 a fair sample of all other nests found. 



I was disappointed, however, in finding 

 that it contained three ungainly little fel- 

 lows about half-grown, one of which sidled 

 ofi" the nest at my near approach and fell 

 kerplunk into the cold water underneath, 

 where it fluttered around helplessly, and 

 would have undoubtedly been drowned had 

 I not rescued and replaced it upon the nest, 

 where it readil}^ remained, evidently profit- 

 ing by its cold bath. A little further on I 

 came upon another nest, which, though 

 empty, showed signs of recent occupancy' . 

 On closer scrutiny of the surroundings, I 

 discovered a couple of demure little fellows 

 sitting side by side upon a little bunch of 

 bent tules, about five feet from the nest, to 

 which they evidently belonged. They were 

 apparently just able to fly, and this was 

 their first ventvrre abroad. I pushed on 

 without disturbing them Plenty of nests 

 were found, invariably occupied by young 

 of all ages, from the nestling of a few days 

 to large, well-plumaged birds, able to fly. 



I also encountered numbers of addled 

 eggs, found for the most part floating in the 

 water beneath the nests. Only one com- 

 plete set of four unhatched eggs were se- 

 cured. These were quite far advanced, but 

 fortunately were saved, though with large 



