IBIS MELANOCEPHALA. 1107 



In winter the scapulars and tertials are not decomposed and the breast-plumes are absent. 



Young, immature (March, Ceylon). Iris brown; bill black; legs and feet black. 



Neck and head feathered nearly to the anterior corner of the eye and in a point to the base of the culmen ; plumage of 

 the head and face, passing back from the lower edge of the under mandible onto the back of the neck for about 

 4 or 5 inches, black ; the throat and all the rest of the neck and plumage white ; shafts of the quills and tertial 

 feathers black, the terminal portions of the webs of the latter blackish grey ; outer webs of the first two primaries 

 and the edge of the terminal portion of the first three blackish grey. The scapulars and tertials are not lengthened, 

 and the breast-plumes are absent. At the first moult the feathers of the head and neck are said to become white, 

 and in the following year are shed altogether and the skin left bare. I am under the impression that birds breed 

 in this immature plumage, as I found them in such at a breeding-colony in the south of Ceylon. 



Obs. This Ibis is closely allied to the Sacred Ibis of Egypt, I. cethiopica, Lath., which differs from it in having the 

 tips of the primaries in the adult greenish black, the tertials more lengthened and blacker at the tips. In Africa 

 this bird extends as far south as the Transvaal, and is united by Mr. Elliot with Gould's Australian species, 

 I. strictipennis, which was separated by the latter author on account of the lengthened feathers of the lower part 

 of the throat ; but this appears to be a character of the African bird in the breeding-season. It is singular, 

 however, that this species is not found in Asia, particularly in India, if it is identical with the Australian bird. 

 The wing-measurement of I", cethiopica is 14 inches, bill along culmen varying from 5 to 8 inches. 



Distribution. — The White Ibis is found here and there throughout the northern forests in the vicinity of 

 large tanks, and extends down the east coast to the Hambantota district, probably not passing much to the 

 westward of the Wallaway river. About Yala it is rather numerous. It is rare in the Trincomalie district, 

 although it is said to be not uncommon about Mullaittivu. It is pretty common in the North-western 

 Province, and breeds as far south as the tank at Nikaweratiya ; but I imagine that it does not extend down the 

 west coast further than Chilaw. Mr. Holdsworth has seen it near Aripu, and it is also found at Manaar 

 sometimes, and northward along the coast to Jaffna. 



According to Jerdon it is not uncommon in many parts of India, and it is apparently as numerous, if not 

 more so, in Sindh and the surrounding provinces as anywhere else, parts of Jodhpoor being perhaps an excep- 

 tion, as I observe that Mr. Adam only once met with it at the Sambhur Lake. It is common in the Doab, 

 and is distributed throughout Chota Nagpur, but nowhere abundant, localities cited in this district being 

 Manbhum, Lohardugga, Sirguja, Sambalpur, Orissa, Nowagarh, Karial, Jaipur, Bustar, and Raipur. In the 

 Deccan it is not rare, and has been observed in that part by Mr. Davidson from October till about July, most 

 probably breeding there. Looking eastward, I find it tolerably numerous, according to Mr. Oates, on plains 

 intersected by the tidal creeks of Burmah ; and in Tenasserim it is not uncommon in similar localities of the 

 central portion of the province. In the peninsula of Malacca it is probably found, though I do not find any 

 record of its occurrence there; but Schlegel notes it from Java : I apprehend also that Temminck's Sumatran 

 Ibis belongs to this species ; and it is doubtfully recorded from Borneo by Salvadori. In the Moluccas, 

 according to Elliot, the Australian and African species reappears, and extends along the east coast of Australia 

 as far south (as a straggler) as Victoria. It is, however, probable that owing to its isolated geographical range 

 the Australian species is after all distinct from the African. Careful investigation will no doubt bring some 

 characters to light (difference in size perhaps, or the constant presence of the red bars on the hind neck, or 

 peculiarities in habits) which will serve to establish Gould's determination beyond dispute. Finally, our bird 

 is found in the summer in China, and probably extends, according to David and Oustalet, as far north as the 

 marshes of Mantchouria. 



Habits. — This fine Ibis associates in flocks during the non-breeding season. In Ceylon, however, where 

 it is not very abundant, it goes about in small parties of ten or a dozen, frequenting the borders of large 

 tanks and wet grass-bunds near estuaries of rivers and tidal creeks ; occasionally, however, large flocks are 

 seen in the North-western Province and on the south-east coast. In India it is found, says Jerdon, on the 

 banks of rivers, about tanks, marshes, and paddy-fields, feeding on mollusks, Crustacea, insects, worms, &c, 

 " in search of which it moves its bill about in the water." It is a shy bird, difficult to approach when feeding, 

 and when nesting is more wary than any other birds breeding with it, except perhaps the Spoonbill, flying off 



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