IBIDID-E — THE IBISES — EUDOCIMUS. 
89 
the larger end, and around the widest portion, these markings are of greater size and 
more numerous, and form a large crown, which covers the whole of the obtuse end of 
the egg. These markings are diversified in their shade, and consist of patches of 
bistre, intensified in spots. 
An egg of this species in my own collection (No. 70), from the Amazon, procured 
by Mr. W. H. Edwards, is of a slightly oblong oval shape, very nearly equal at either 
end, and measures 2.41 inches in length by 1.60 in breadth. The ground color is a 
dull white, with a slight rufous tinge. It is nearly covered — profusely so at the 
larger end — with irregular blotches of a dull bistre ; these are nearly confluent at 
the extremity, and a few are much deeper than the rest. 
Eudocimus albus. 
THE WHITE IBIS. 
Scolopax alba, Linn. S. N. I. ed. 10, 1758, 145. 
Tantalus albcr, Linn. S. N. I. 1766, 242. 
Tantalus albus, Gmel. S. N. I. 1788, 651. — Wils. Am. Oni. VIII. 1814, 43, pi. 66. 
Ibis alba, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. XVI. 1817, 16. — Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 86. — Aur>. Orn. Biog. Ill, 
1835, 178 ; V. 1839, 593, pi. 222 ; Synop. 1839, 257 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 54, pi. 360. — Cass, in 
Baird’s B. N. Am. 1858, 684. — Baird, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 499. — Codes, Check List, 
1873, no. 446. 
Eudocimus a, llms, Wagl. Isis, 1832, 1232 . — Bidgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 501. — Coues, 
Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 651. 
Tantalus coco, Jacq. Beitr. 1784, 13. 
Tantalus griscus, Gmel. S. N. I. 1788, 653 (young). 
Eudocimus loncjirostris, Wagl. Isis, 1829, 760. 
Hab. Warm- temperate Eastern North America, West Indies, Middle America, and tropical 
South America ; north to Connecticut, Eastern Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Great Salt Lake, Utah ; 
south to Brazil. 
Sb. Char. Adult : Terminal portion (beyond the emargination) of three to five 1 outer pri- 
maries, glossy greenish black, with a bright metallic green lustre. Best of the plumage entirely 
pure white. Bill, bare skin of the head, legs and feet, bright carmine in the breeding-season ; at 
other times paler, or orange-red ; iris tine pearly blue (Audubon ). 2 End of the bill sometimes 
1 According to Audubon, “ There is a curious, though not altogether general, difference between the 
sexes of this, species as to the plumage, — the male has five of its primaries tipped with glossy black for 
several inches, while the female, which is very little smaller than the male, has only four marked in this 
manner. On examining more than a hundred individuals of each sex, I found only four exceptions, which 
occurred in females that were very old birds, and which, as happens in some other species, might perhaps 
have been undergoing the curious change exhibited by Ducks, Pheasants, and some other birds, the females 
of which, when old, sometimes assume the livery of the males.” This supposed sexual difference we have 
been unable to verify with the series before ns, though it is very possible that some specimens may not 
have the sex correctly determined. 
2 “ Bare parts of the head [in the adult male] light orange-red ; bill the same, but towards tlie tip 
dusky. Iris of a hue pearly blue. Legs and toes paler than the bill ; claws dusky, tipped with horn- 
color. 
“ After the first moult, the bill is pale yellowish orange, toward the base greenish ; the naked parts of 
the head are pale orange-yellow, inclining to flesh-color ; the eye dark brown ; the feet pale blue. 
“ The change in the coloring of the hill, legs, and feet of this bird, that takes place in the breeding 
season, is worthy of remark, the hill being then of a deep orange-red, and the legs and feet of a red nearly 
amounting to carmine. The males at this season have the gular pouch of a rich orange color, and some- 
what resembling in shape that of the Frigate Pelican, although proportionally less. During winter these 
parts are of a dull flesh-color. The hides also lose much of their clear blue, and resume in some degree 
the umber color of the young birds. I am thus particular in these matters, because it is doubtful if any 
one else has ever paid attention to them.” 
VOL. I. — 12 
