96 
ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 
According to Nuttall, specimens were in his day occasionally seen exposed for sale 
in the market of Boston ; and individuals had been at distant intervals shot off 
Long Island and on the shores of New Jersey. From time to time straggling speci- 
mens are captured on the Massachusetts coast. Several were thus taken on Cape 
Cod in the fall of 1878; and individuals, undoubtedly of this species, were seen dur- 
ing the same season on Prince Edward Island by Mr. Frank L. Tileston ; it also 
occurs in the West India Islands. 
At very irregular periods in the spring small flocks have been seen on the coasts 
of the Middle States and on the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia. Mr. J. A. 
Allen states (Am. Nat. III. 637) that a specimen of this bird was taken in Nantucket 
in September, 1869. Dr. Charles Palmer writes to the “Naturalist” (V. p. 120) that 
one was obtained by him near Lake Winnepisseogee, in the town of Alton, N. H. 
It was an old bird in full plumage. 
In Europe this species is supposed to be more common in the eastern than in the 
western portion. The course of its migrations for the summer toward the north of 
Europe is said to be chiefly in a line from Egypt to Turkey, Hungary, and Poland, 
and to the southern parts of Russia. It is occasionally seen, on its passage from 
Northern Africa, in Crete, the Grecian Archipelago, in Sicily, Sardinia, and Genoa. 
Stragglers are found in Switzerland, France, Holland, and Great Britain ; but in all 
these countries it is a rare bird. In England, though not uncommon, it is always 
accidental. Yarrell mentions about fifteen instances of its having been taken in 
England, three in Ireland, and one in Scotland. It has also been known to occur in 
Denmark ; and in Sweden also, although here but very rarely. 
Specimens were obtained by Dr. Andrew Smith in Africa as far south as the Cape 
of Good Hope. It is migratory in Egypt, where it appears to have been once held in 
high veneration, although it is not the bird commonly known as the Sacred Ibis. It 
was met with by Messrs. Dickson and Ross at Erzeroom, in the vicinity of the river ; 
and in the Russian expedition it was found in the countries between the Black and 
the Caspian Seas. It has also been taken near Calcutta, in Thibet, and Nepal. Tem- 
minck assigns it to Java, Sunda, and the neighboring islands ; and, finally, Mr. Gould 
states that this species has been found in every part of the vast region of Australia 
known to him. 
In the portions of Europe where this bird is most abundant, it is found to live 
principally on the banks of rivers and on the shores of lakes, or on muddy flats which 
are occasionally flooded. It feeds on small reptiles, the fry of fishes, small Crustacea, 
and aquatic insects. 
Mr. Dresser mentions this species as having been found by him in great numbers 
on the lagoons near Matamoras, in the month of August; appearing there somewhat 
earlier than the White Ibis. Lie obtained quite a number of specimens, and one w r as 
sent to him from Fort Stockton in a collection formed by Mr. P. Duffy. 
Although Captain Bendire did not meet with this species in Oregon, he had no 
doubt that it ranges within the State, as it was found breeding at Quinn River Cross- 
ing, in Nevada, only twenty miles from the State line. Lieutenant Wood, U. S. A., 
procured an example in that locality, July 15, 1875, and on that occasion saw some 
forty of these birds with young still unable to fly. 
Eggs of this species in the Smithsonian Institution (1895) obtained by Dr. Bean 
at Mecanopy, Florida, are of a rounded oval shape, slightly smaller at one end than 
at the other, and of a uniform very light shade of Prussian blue. They measure 1.90 
inches in length by 1.38 in breadth. Yarrell describes the European egg as being 
of a very delicate pale blue, and 2 inches in length by 1.50 inches in breadth. 
