PLEG-ADIS FALCLNELLTJS. 1111 



all rare. It has been met with, according to Collin, on several occasions in Denmark. In the western 

 countries of Europe it is equally an accidental visitor, having been rarely seen in Holland, Belgium, and 

 France ; further south it becomes common. Mr. Saunders says that it is abundant in the marismas of 

 Southern Spain, and Professor Bocage records it as common in Portugal. Col. Irby saw great flocks at the 

 lakes of Ras Dowra at the end of April, and met with them in Andalucia, and says that they breed near Vejer 

 and in the marismas of the Guadalquivir. Near Gibraltar he only noticed it in April and May on passage 

 north ; he has seen eggs from Morocco, and quotes Favier to the effect that the bird occurs in Tangier on 

 passage, returning to pass the winter further north ; but some remain to breed, occurring in May, June, and 

 July. In May it was seen in flocks in the Balearic Islands by Von Homeyer. Mr. Brooke savs it occurs 

 " not uncommonly " in Sardinia during winter ; and in Malta Mr. Wright says it is a pretty regular visitor 

 in spring and autumn. Returning, however, to Africa, we find Canon Tristram meeting with it at Tuggurt, 

 and Mr. Salvin at Zana to the north of the Sahara. Captain Shelley says it ranges through Egypt and Nubia, 

 being found, but not abundantly, throughout the year. Von Heuglin met with it in pairs and flocks, both in 

 spring and in autumn and winter, in Egypt, Nubia, Kordofan, and Abyssinia ; he met with stragglers in July 

 and August near Quenah and Keren, and saw young birds near Berber, as also old ones at the Tana Lake in 

 Abyssinia ; but, notwithstanding these instances, he is not of opinion that it is stationary in the region in 

 question. 



As regards America, Mr. Dresser writes that its range is not well defined, and quotes Dr. Coues, who 

 mentions a specimen having been procured in 1817 near New Jersey, and writes : — " Since that time it has 

 been found at irregular intervals along our coast, chiefly in the southern and middle districts, but occasionallv 

 as far north as Massachusetts, where, however, its occurrence must be considered as accidental." It has 

 been obtained in Connecticut ; and Mr. Dresser procured it in Texas, and at Matamoras in Mexico. He 

 states that it is not certain how far south it extends, as it is there replaced by an allied species, P. ridwayi, 

 Allen, which has the underparts dark, which has been found in Peru, Chili, and Buenos Ayres, and has been 

 confused with the present. The present bird has, however, been seen in Cuba. 



Habits. — This widely distributed Ibis is not only sociable but highly gregarious in its nature ; it is 

 seldom seen in less than flocks of half a dozen or more, and frequently in the cool season vast flocks assemble 

 together and patrol the edges of tanks, large swamps, and tidal rivers, or overrun the muddv foreshores of 

 shallow bays at low water. It is usually in Ceylon a very shy bird, and has been also noticed to be wary in most 

 other parts of the world. In India, however, it is spoken of by more than one observer as the reverse of shv. 

 Mr. Hume remarks that in Sindh " it was excessively tame, and sat on the trees and bushes overhanging 

 the water, or fed fearlessly in amongst the rush and reeds till the boats were within 20 yards of it." Its diet 

 is varied, consisting in marshy lands of frogs, worms, Crustacea, mollusks, and various water insects ; and in 

 plains, to which it has a partiality, of beetles, scorpions, and locusts, on the latter of which, according to 

 Von Heuglin, it exclusively feeds on the savannas of Kordofan. The Glossy Ibis is a graceful bird when 

 walking on the ground ; the body is held moderately erect, the neck inclined forward, and the tips of the 

 bill pointed downwards. It flies with a quick motion of the wings, and when in a flock its members keep 

 close together and progress with a straight-on-end course. I have not heard its note, but Jerdon states that 

 it is a loud call uttered when on the wing or when alarmed. 



*6 



Nidification. — In March 1872 I found a small colony of these Ibises, numbering about eight pairs, 

 nesting at Uduwila, near Tissa Maha Rama. The nests were placed on thorny trees growing in the half- 

 dried bed of the small tank already referred to in former articles, and the trees chosen were those 

 on which the Shell-Ibises were nesting. The nests were small and mostly made of twigs and grass- 

 roots, almost flat in shape and placed upon the horizontal forks of small branches high up in the trees. The 

 young were fledged, but unable to fly, and when I approached the trees stood up in the nests, scrambling 

 along the branches and climbing actively about them as I mounted to the nests; when seized they clung 

 tightly with their feet, and were with difficulty removed. My efforts to keep them alive were not successful, 

 for while several Pelicans and Pelican-Ibises thrived on fish and meat, the Glossy Ibises died, only living 

 two days. When flying away from their nests the old birds made a whizzing sound with their wings. 



