114 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 84. 



almost beyond belief, and from the nature of the food col- 

 lected showed that they had to be alert and capable of doing 

 all kinds of hunting. From the following list it will be read- 

 ily seen what great good these birds do to any section they 

 decide to nest in. 



An itemized summary of the food of the Glossy Ibis. First 

 six days of the life of the young in the nests I did not inves- 

 tigate their food because of its being so nearly digested by 

 the parent bird that it would be almost impossible to deter- 

 mine the number of any one kind of food. In the following 

 list the first six days' record is of the three oldest nestlings, 

 and commencing with the 12th day is a record of all four 

 youngsters, and of two full meals of each, one in the morn- 

 ing and one in the evening, with the exception of the last 

 three days, when I took a meal each in the morning and two 

 in the evening. In this way I did not cause the youngsters 

 much inconvenience as they soon became used to me and did 

 not in the least object to being handled, and toward the end 

 they would immediately eat the disgorged food if I put it 

 back in the nest for them, which I usually did when the 

 meals were in a state of digestion that did not necessitate my 

 taking them back to camp to analyze. 



Age 











So. of 



days 



Cut Worms 



Grasshoppers 



Crayfish 



Snakes 



Meals 





28 



24 

 17 



47 

 19 



2 



5 



6 



8 



33 



6 



9 



67 



11 



28 



2 



6 



10 



27 



28 

 23 

 48 

 12 



42 

 61 

 96 



77 



3 



1 

 6 

 3 



6 



11 



86 



6 



12 



.^6 



8 



13 



78 



8 



14 



07 



29 

 101 



32 



98 



3 

 4 



8 



15 



IS 



8 



16 



2 



132 



87 



3 



8 



17 





169 



158 



81 

 39 



4 



3 



8 



18 





8 



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