STEAMER AND LAUNCH TO HOORIE CREEK. 1 55 



brown, except for one tiny under-edge covert in the right 

 wing. The back, lower breast and under tail-coverts were 

 fairly scarlet and active moult was in progress on the head 

 and neck. 



We know that in captivity these birds fade out, usually in 

 a single moult, from the most vivid scarlet to a pale salmon 

 hue, but as to the cause we are still in the dark. The same 

 is true of American Flamingos and Spoonbills. During this 

 trip we made certain of a fact which helps slightly to clear 

 this problem — this being that Scarlet Ibises fade as quickly 

 and completely when in captivity in their native country as in 

 the north. This is confirmed by many birds kept formerly 

 in Georgetown and also on the Island of Marajo at the mouth 

 of the Amazon. 



We have noticed an interesting fact in regard to this fading 

 out of birds in captivity. Whether the salmon tints appear 

 in the first moult, or more gradually in several, the lesser 

 wing-coverts and the upper and under tail-coverts are the 

 last to loose the scarlet color, retaining it sometimes for five 

 or six years. These feathers in the nearly related but pale 

 Roseate Spoonbill are those which are normally scarlet, and 

 this resemblance may be more than a coincidence. 



About four o'clock we were surprised to see a large black 

 and white bird with long gray beak and red legs fly up from 

 a mud-flat ahead and swing outward and around us. The 

 glasses showed a Maguari Stork '" in full breeding color; even 

 the red caruncles around the eye and the long, filmy neck 

 feathers being visible. We had never expected to see the 

 bird away from the pampas of the interior and the sight of 

 the splendid Stork was most exciting. It is almost as large 

 as the Jabiru, white with black wings, scapulars and tail and 

 is one of the most picturesque of the larger waders. 



We have had a pair of these birds alive for some time and 

 have observed a curious thing about the tail. The real tail- 



