SACRED IBIS. 49 



The following account is taken from Dr. Viertlialer's 

 paper, above alluded to: — The Sacred Ibis lives during 

 the winter in immense numbers in the swamps which 

 border the Eiver Nile, where it will remain till it 

 becomes dry, when it changes its quarters. It does not 

 at this time appear much on the river during the day, 

 but passes the night there in flocks of forty or fifty on 

 the Mimosas which grow on the banks of the river. 

 It builds in the neighbourhood of Chartum, in the 

 beginning of September. Forty or fifty nests may be 

 sometimes seen on a single Mimosa. The nest is more 

 or less skilfully made, and is about the size of that of 

 the Rook. It is made of coarse twigs, woven together 

 with a lesser layer of fine grass and solitary feathers. 



The eggs, which are of a greenish white, are generally . 

 three, rarely four, in number, and the size that of 

 the Wild Duck, (Anas hoscJias.J It only breeds once 

 a year, but does not confine itself to one fixed time, 

 as eggs may be found as late as November. The nest 

 is very difficult to reach, and thus it is not so easy to fix 

 the exact time of incubation. The end of September, 

 1850, Dr. Vierthaler received six young birds in white 

 downy clothing. The skin of the head and upper part 

 of the neck was almost white, and mixed with 

 black down, here and there broken into with white 

 spots, especially near the head; the throat was all white; 

 the flesh-coloured beak was quite straight, three inches 

 long, and only blackish at the tip; on the under side 

 of the loioer mandible a slight curve might be noticed, 

 and the furrows were strongly marked; the plump and 

 thick feet were lead grey. Size that of a Partridge, 

 The first plumage like that of the old bird, but less 

 beautiful; the beak grows quickly, as by the beginnin«' 

 of October it had begun to curve, and the point to 



