Home Life of the Glossy Ibis. Ill 



fourth stage, lives on the ground during the daytime, run- 

 ning around by the thousands like rabbits. It is during this 

 period that the old White Ibis have the hardest time of their 

 lives in hunting up their own offspring. The Glossy I never 

 found on the ground except when they had sprung there in 

 fright at my approach. 



Fifth stage is spent among the tree tops away from the 

 nest, venturing sometimes as much as fifty feet, returning, 

 however, to be fed as related before. 



Sixth stage, which is usually the latter part of the sixth 

 week, is when they begin to fly, making short excursions at 

 first, returning to the nest when the old one returns and calls 

 to them. After the end of the sixth week the young spend 

 all their time flying down to the edge of the island and wad- 

 ing and feeding in the shallow water, returning, however, at 

 night to roost on the old nest. The old ones, at this stage, 

 will feed them wherever they can find them, and after the 

 young are about seven weeks old they will leave with the pa- 

 rents to their feeding grounds and stay with them, returning 

 at night to roost. At about this time all the Ibis of both spe- 

 cies are usually able to fly and it is not long then when some 

 day they all leave as suddenly and mysteriously as they came 

 in. They have probably pretty well cleaned up the hunting 

 grounds of all the crayfish, etc., and move of necessity rather 

 than choice. It is at this period that they are found in the 

 northern states. At what time they return south I am unable 

 to state. 



The disposition of the old Glossy Ibis towards the other Ibis 

 and Herons is not good. I will have to admit that the Glossy 

 is pugnacious towards them, and one will never find an oc- 

 cupied nest of any other species as near as ten feet to a 

 Glossy nest when they have reached the point where it is 

 about time for the young to hatch. They will run off Ibis 

 and Herons regardless of size and all the other birds seem 

 to recognize their superiority and leave. Then happens a 

 peculiar thing. The Fish Crows will, of course get the de- 

 serted eggs at once and then the Glossy Ibis will begin dis ■ 



