ROSEATE SPOONBILL 135 



On two or three occasions I have seen as many as 

 half a dozen individuals together ; at other times I 

 have seen one or two associating with the Glossy 

 Ibis. 



Azara's name^ " Shaved " Ibis, seems well enough 

 in Spanish, just as his " Throat-cut '* for a Starling 

 with a scarlet throat does not strike one as at all 

 shocking in that language ; but for an English name 

 I fancy that " Whispering Ibis/* from the whisper- 

 like sound the bird emits, would be more suitable, 

 or at all events better sounding. 



It is possible that two races of this Ibis exist on 

 the South American continent ; for in Brazil and 

 further north it is said to have a loud cry, uttered 

 when taking wing, as in the case of the Glossy Ibis ; 

 and one of its native names in the tropics — curri- 

 curri — ^is said to be an imitation of its usual note. 



ROSEATE SPOONBILL 



Ajaja rosea 



Head bare; neck, back, and breast white; tail orange-buff with 

 the shafts deep pink; rest of plumage pale rose-pink; lesser wing- 

 coverts and upper tail-coverts intense carmine; neck with a tuft of 

 twisted plumes, light carmine; head greenish, space round the eye 

 and gular sac orange; eyes crimson, feet red; length 30, wing 15 

 inches. Female similar. Young with head completely feathered. 



The Roseate Spoonbill is found in both Americas 

 and ranges south to the Straits of Magellan, but in 

 Patagonia it is, I think, rare, for on the Rio Negro I 



