THE SPOONBILL FAMILY 



161 



British Guiana. On Marajo Island, in the delta of the 

 Amazon, it breeds in hundreds — a sight worth a long journey 

 to see. Unfortunately, it is impossible to keep specimens of 

 this species in confinement and have them retain their color. 

 In a few months they fade until they are pale pink. 



The Glossy Ibis^ is 

 a dark-colored bird, its 

 prevailing color being 

 rich brownish purple 

 with metallic-green re- 

 flections, and abundant 

 iridescence. It seems 

 smaller than the two 

 light-colored species 

 mentioned above, but in 

 reality it is not. In 1899 

 two specimens were cap- 

 tured on the St. Johns River, opposite Melbourne, Florida, and 

 one of them lived two years in the Zoological Park. This 

 species is rare, even in Florida, but in Texas and the Southwest 

 the White-Faced Glossy Ibis is of more frequent occurrence. 



WHITE IBIS. 



THE SPOONBILL FAMILY 



Plataleidae 



The Roseate Spoonbill,^ or Pink "Curlew," is the 

 only member of the Spoonbill Family in America, and it is 

 also the farthest from the type of the Order Herodiones. It 

 is really an ibis with a wide bill which terminates in two 



' Pleg'a-dis au-tum-nal'is. Length, 23 inches. ^ A-ja'i-a a-ja'i-a. 



