150 BIRDS OF BEITISU GUIANA. 



Genus EUDOCIMUS Wagl. 



JEudocimiiS Wagler, Isis, 1832, p. 1232. Type H. ruber (Linn.). 



In tLis genus the anterior portion of tarsus is scaled, or plated, 

 transversely ; the forehead, sides of face, and throat bare. 



95. Eudocimus rubra. 

 Scarlet Ibis. 



Eudocimus rubra (Linn.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 145, 1758 ("Habitat in 

 America " = Guiana) ; Salvin, Ibis, 1886, p. 171 ; W. L. Sclater, 

 Ibis, 1887, p. 317 (Maecasseema) ; Quelch, Timebri (2) v. p. 107, 

 1891 (Georgetown); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvi. pp. 41, 267, 

 1898 (Berbice) ; Beebe, Our Search for a Wilderness, p. 153, 1910 

 (Mora passage) ; Brabourne & Chubb, B. S. Amer. i. p. 48, no. 456, 

 1912. 



Tbis rubra Cab. in Schomb. Beis. Guian. iii. p. 756, 1848. 



" Currie-Currie " {C. A. Llo>/d). 



Adult. Bright scarlet above and below, except the first two 

 ])riinaries, which are tipped with black, and the shafts of the 

 feathers, which are white. 



Total length 530 nnn., culnien 130, wing 247, tail 01, 

 tarsus 73. 



Young. Head, neck, wings, and tail brown ; lower back, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts white like the breast, abdomen, axillaries, 

 Tinder wing-coverts, and inner webs of the quills ; under tail- 

 coverts pale brown towards the tips. 



The descriptions are taken from individuals obtained on the 

 Berbice River. 



The adult males and females are alike in colour of plumage, 

 but there are great differences in the measurements. Thus in 

 two males, which appear to be adult birds, the culmen measures 

 121 and 152 nun., the wing 244 and 267, and the tarsus 73 

 and 84 ; while three females have the culmen 127, 132, 135, 

 the wing 240, 255, 2<)7, and the tarsus 75, 79, 81. 



B reedhig-season. Unrecorded in British Guiana. 



Nest. " Never builds a nest of any sort, but takes forcible 

 possession of those of the Small White Egret (Ardea candidissima 

 = Leucophoijx thiila, p. 164) for depositing its eggs" (C A. 

 L loi/d). 



Kggn. "Three in number and very variable both in shape and 

 markings'' (('. .1. Lloi/d). 



