THE WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS 



{Plegadis guarauna.) 



The White-faced Glossy Ibis which is 

 essentially a southern bird has an inter- 

 esting range. In the United States it 

 may be given as the western states ex- 

 tending from Texas to California and 

 northward to Oregon. It has also been 

 seen in British Columbia. New Mexico, 

 Kansas, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada are 

 also within its range, and the species is 

 quite common in suitable localities It has 

 been found breeding in Florida. Mr. 

 W. W. Cooke says that it is a rare sum- 

 mer visitant in Colorado, and Mr. Ridg- 

 way concludes, because it is found within 

 the state during the summer, that it 

 breeds there in the marshes and val- 

 leys. Its range also extends southward 

 through the West Indies and Mexico to 

 South America. 



There about thirty species of the ibises 

 and they are natives of tlie warmer por- 

 tions of the world. Of this number only 

 four are found in North America. The 

 food of the ibises consists mainly of small 

 fish, frogs, crustaceans, mollusks, worms, 

 and insects. They are gregarious and 

 are quiet birds, frequenting the shores 

 of bodies of water, both fresh and salt. 



The White-faced Glossy Ibises are 

 probably the best known of those species 

 of this interesting family which inhabit 

 North America. They are not particu- 

 larly shy birds, and they are in some dan- 

 ger of extinction, as there is quite a de- 

 mand for the beautiful reddish-bronze 

 feathers. 



One of the best localities where these 

 birds can be studied to advantage, is 

 along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, 

 in Texas. At intervals between Brazos 

 and Corpus Christi there are deep and 

 narrow channels opening sharply into 

 the Gulf, and gradually widening and 

 spreading backward into the land, form- 

 ing quite large muddy lakes. One of 

 these lakes, the name of which I was 

 unable to learn, was at least five square 



miles in extent at low tide. It is quite 

 a sight to see the mass of shells and even 

 large gar fish exposed in this great mass 

 of mud during the period of low tide. 

 The attraction of such a locality for 

 countless numbers of ibises and herons 

 may well be understood, and it is a mar- 

 velous sight to observe the long lines of 

 the Glossy Ibises, herons, curlews, and 

 terns, arriving and alighting in the 

 mud, almost regardless of danger. Then 

 it is that the hunter of bird plumes per- 

 forms his deadly work, and these locali- 

 ties are the ones where lax legislation 

 does not reach the offender. The poorly 

 paid wardens do not care to risk their 

 lives by arresting the hunters at points 

 so far from cities. 



Here and there, at short distances from 

 the lakes mentioned, are small sloughs 

 and ponds which are bordered, mostly 

 with a heavy growth of flags, and fre- 

 quented by many alligators. In these 

 areas the nests of the White-faced Glossy 

 Ibises are placed. They are, as a rule, 

 placed lower than are those of the her- 

 ons, and their eggs are more elongated 

 and more highly polished. Often the 

 great and little white egrets, as well as 

 other birds and the herons, nest in the 

 same localities with the beautiful Ibis of 

 our illustration. The nests of the Glossy 

 Ibises are built in the reeds which grow 

 to a height of six or more feet above the 

 surface of the water in the sloughs. 

 These reeds are beaten down to form a 

 foundation for the nests, or at times, the 

 dead stalks of the previous season are 

 used for the same purpose. Dr. James 

 C. Merrill gives the following description 

 of their nests as he observed them in the 

 reeds of a shallow lagoon in southern 

 Texas. He says : "Both nests and eggs 

 of the Ibises were quite unlike those of 

 any of the herons, and could be distin- 

 guished at a glance. The nests were made 

 of broken bits of dead tules (reeds), sup- 



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