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Ciconia abdimii on its wanderings. After the breeding-season, in December and January, it 

 migrates south again. In January and February I found it in large flocks on Lake Tana and 

 near the mouth of the Sobat, and in August and September in pairs in Dahlak Archipelago." 

 Vierthaler found it nesting on the White Nile, and it also breeds numerously on the Blue Nile. 

 Fischer (J. f. O. 1885, p. 117) records it as occurring: at the Osi Tana, at Sigirari, the salt-swamp 

 Ngau in East Africa, and, according to Reichenow (J. f. O. 1887, p. 48), he sent specimens from 

 the Simiu River and Lake Victoria, east of Kagehi ; and Dr. R. Boehm obtained it at Likulwe 

 and Marungu, near Lake Tangauika. It is met with as far south in Africa as the Cape Colony. 

 Sir John Kirk states that it arrives in the Zambesi from the north in December, and is found at 

 all seasons on the coast, where it feeds on the sea-shore at low-water. Mr. Ayres and Capt. Feilden 

 record it from Natal and Transvaal in the autumn and winter; Symonds (Ibis, 1887, p. 335) from 

 Kroonstad in the Orange Free State; Shelley (Ibis, 1894, p. 477) from the Palombi River in 

 Nyassaland ; and Mr. Layard (B. of S. Africa, p. 320) says that a few specimens have come 

 under his notice that were killed in the Cape Colony, and that a female was shot at Green Point, 

 within three miles of Cape Town. 



The Sacred Ibis does not appear to range as far as Algeria or Morocco in West Africa, but 

 Mr. Forbes met with it on the Niger in December ; it has been recorded from Senegal, Ashanti, 

 and Casamanze, the Camma River, and Benguela. Sehor Anchieta recoi - ds it from Humbe, on 

 the Cunene River and the Coroca River in Mossamedes. Mr. Andersson (B. of Damaraland, 

 p. 297) never observed it in Damara or Great Namaqua Land; but it is not uncommon in the 

 lake regions, and extremely abundant in Ondonga, especially during the rainy season, when it 

 is comparatively tame, though wild at other times. 



In general habits the Sacred Ibis is said to resemble the Curlew to some extent. It is 

 usually met with in small companies, sometimes as many as fifty or sixty, and they feed in swamps 

 or on the sea-coasts, probing the mud with their long bills for worms, like the Curlew, in company 

 with which species, as also with Egrets and Herons, they are often seen. Mr. Ayres says that he 

 has sometimes seen them sunning themselves on the upper boughs of the mangroves together 

 with Spoonbills, White Herons, &c, and that in their flight they usually form some figure 

 similarly to the Pelicans, Swans, and Geese. Wary and cautious to a degree, it is scarcely 

 possible to stalk and shoot them ; but, Dr. Vierthaler says, they show no fear of the natives, and 

 may be seen in company with Ardeola coromandelica amongst the herds of cattle without taking 

 any notice of the herdsmen or any other negroes who might be with them. 



According to Von Heuglin the young birds utter a piping cry, and the call-note of the old 

 birds is harsh, resembling that of Ardea bubulcus. They feed on insects of various kinds, worms, 

 snails, frogs, spiders, grasshoppers, lizards, and snakes, &c, but when tame will eat almost 

 anything. They are easily tamed, and become as tame as domestic poultry. Dr. Vierthaler, 

 who kept several about the house, says that they preferred taking their food out of the water 

 like a Duck, but made no noise with the bill. They were very expert with the bill, and would 

 pick up the smallest insects with ease, and capture them amongst the finest grass. Their walk 

 was slow, and in their general movements they were quiet and stately, but when in a good 

 humour or hurried they moved with awkward jumps, having the wings extended. They would 

 sit crouched for hours on their knees and were very partial to any soft object, and if a pillow 

 were left about would soon find and take possession of it, resting with the wings and feet 



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