JABIRU. 15 



neck also bare, but of a fine red;. at the hindhead a few greyish 

 feathers; general colour of the plumage white ; the tail consisting of 

 twelve feathers; legs strong, of a great length, and covered with 

 black scales ; wings and tail very little differing in length. 



The female is three or four inches shorter. 



This bird is found in all the savannas of Cayenne, Guiana, and 

 other parts of South America, and makes the nest on great trees, 

 which grow on the borders; lays two eggs, and brings up the young 

 in the nest, till they can descend to the earth ; the food is fish. Young 

 birds are at first grey; in the second year change to rose-colour; and 

 the third become pure white; are exceedingly voraeious, taking 

 great quantities of fish to satisfy them ; in their nature are very wild. 

 The flesh of the young bird is good to eat, but that of the old ones 

 very hard, rank, and oily. 



Azara says, that it is called by some Aiaiai ; is rare in Paraguay, 

 and not seen beyond the third degree of latitude ; met with generally 

 in pairs, but never uniting into flocks; perches on trees, roosting 

 thereon at night ; appears before the JBaguari, or American Stork, 

 and prefers the great lakes to any other situation. He observes, that 

 the nest is spacious, made generally on the fork of a decayed tree, 

 on the borders, formed of small branches, carefully interwoven ; the 

 bird using the same nest for several seasons. The female said to want 

 the red collar, but this is not certain, for the male does not get it for 

 a great length of time. 



The bird described by Brisson, as Ciconia Guianensis,* does not 

 probably belong to this Genus, but rather to that of the Ibis, as the 

 bill curves downwards; in that the neck is naked, and black; the 

 rest of the plumage white, even the quills and tail. This last bird 

 has never come under our view, and we suspect that the American 

 and this have been confounded with each other, unless the latter may 

 hereafter prove to be no other than the Wood Ibis. 



* Bris. v. p. 373. 



