132 WOOD IBIS; 



flight, with alternate flappings and sailings of thirty or forty yards, the 

 sailino-s more prolonged than the flappings. They alight on trees with 

 more ease than Herons generally do, and either stand erect or crouch on 

 the branches, in the manner of the Wild Turkey, the Herons seldom 

 usino- the latter attitude. When they are at rest, they place their bill 

 against the breast, while the neck shrinks as it were between the shoul- 

 ders. In this position you may see fifty on the same tree, or on the 

 ground, reposing in perfect quiet for hours at a time, although some in- 

 dividual of the party will be constantly on the look-out, and ready to 

 sound the alarm. 



In the spring months, when these birds collect in large flocks, before 

 they return to their breeding places, I have seen thousands together, pass- 

 ing over the woods in a line more than a mile in extent, and moving with 

 surprising speed at the height of only a few yards above the trees. When 

 a breeding place has once been chosen, it is resorted to for years in suc- 

 cession ; nor is it easy to make them abandon it after they have deposited 

 their eggs, although, if much annoyed, they never return to it after that 

 season. 



Besides the great quantity of fishes that these Ibises destroy, they also 

 devour frogs, young alligators, wood-rats, young rails and grakles, fiddlers 

 and other crabs, as well as snakes and small turtles. They never eat the 

 eggs of the alligator, as has been alleged, although they probably would 

 do so, could they demolish the matted nests of that animal, a task beyond 

 the power of any bird known to me. I never saw one eat any thing which 

 either it or some of its fellows had not killed. Nor will it eat an animal 

 that has been dead for some time, even although it may have been killed 

 by itself. When eating, the clacking of their mandibles may be heard at 

 the distance of several hundred yards. 



When wounded, it is dangerous to approach them, for they bite se- 

 verely. They may be said to be very tenacious of life. Although 

 usually fat, they are very tough and oily, and therefore are not fit for 

 food. The Negroes, however, eat them, having, previous to cooking them, 

 torn off the skin, as they do with Pelicans and Cormorants. My own 

 attempts, I may add, were not crowned with success. Many of the Ne- 

 groes of Louisiana destroy these birds when young, for the sake of the 

 oil which tbeir flesh contains, and which they use in greasing machines. 



The French Creoles of that State name them " Grands Flamans," 

 while the Spaniards of East Florida know them by the imme of " Gan- 



