188 ARDEIDF. 



not likely to pursue any insect on the wing, nor subject to be 

 carried away by gales, although the latter is the most probable 

 cause of its being found in unexpected places. 



Although the Ibis is reported to breed in great numbers in 

 the southern provinces of Hungary, no naturalist that we have 

 met with has ever possessed one of its eggs, nor do any 

 authors give even the dimensions of an egg of this species. We 

 presume that in some instances they are protected by the pre- 

 judices of superstition, as in the case of the stork and the 

 crane, whose eggs are hardly ever taken or disturbed on 

 the continent of Europe, as well as by the want of interest 

 that sportsmen of those countries take in the collection of 

 eggs. Since no British ornithologist has as yet been able to 

 give any account of the nest and eggs of the Ibis, we will sub- 

 join some particulars from information we have obtained; and we 

 hope that some spirited individual, who has time and means at 

 his command, will take the hint to visit a country where many 

 rare eggs of water birds may be obtained by merely seeking 

 for them. 



On the borders of Hungary, towards Turkey, great num- 

 bers of the Ibis breed in the extensive swamps that intersect 

 that locality. Many nests of these birds may there be found 

 placed on the ground one beside another. These structures are 

 sufficiently well formed, of dried grasses, flags, and other por- 

 tions of aquatic vegetation, to hold the two or three very pale 

 green eggs that belong to this species, and are sufficiently 

 strong to support the weight of the bird. The nests are 

 placed on the broken reeds that grow on some raised protube- 

 rance of the uneven ground. While the female sits on the 

 eggs, the male invariably stands not far off watching her, un- 

 less he is employed in bringing her food. The nestlings of 

 the Ibis are covered with a brown down. 



