AUSTRALIAir GLOSSY IBIS. 
Adult in winter. Differs from the adult in summer by having the head and neck brown, 
minutely lined with white, with scarcely any green or purple reflections on the 
upper -parts, and by the dark brown on the under-surface, 
A bh’d obtained in February shows the approach of the winter- plumage by the 
white speckhngs on the head and neck. 
Immature. Differs from the adult by the absence of the glossy purple on the head and 
sides of face, as well as the maroon-chestnut on the neck, lesser upper wing-coverts 
and the entire under -surface — the colour on these parts being replaced by white 
speckhng on the head and neck ; under-parts rusty-brown, and the outer edge 
of the wing pale brown. 
Nest. “ Placed in an upright three-pronged fork and was entirely composed of branches 
of box {Eucalyptus) leaves, built up to about a foot in height, slightly hollowed 
on the top, and without any hning beyond the leaves of which it was composed” 
(Bennett). 
Eggs. “ Clutch three, lengthened ovals in form and are of a deep greenish-blue colour, the 
shell being shghtly rough in texture and lustreless. Axis, 49 to 50 mm. ; diameter, 
34-33.” (North.) 
Breeding-season. October and November (Bennett), September to December (North). 
Mb. J. P. Rogers, who shot this bird in North-west Australia, writes : “ Several 
flocks have been in this locality for a few days ; they feed in large numbers 
in the swamp during the day, and roost in the trees bordering the swamp 
at night.” 
Captain S. A. White says this bird is a rare one in South Australia and 
he has never heard of it breeding there. 
Mr. Charles Belcher tells me this bird is an exceedingly rare visitor to 
Victoria ; he noticed a flock of about thirty on the Racecourse near Geelong 
some years ago. 
“ The Glossy Ibis breeds in trees over the creek [at CunnamuUa, South- 
western Queensland], but do not always build a nest for themselves. I have 
known them to use the old nest of the White-fronted Heron, also the 
Spoonbill, but all I have taken have been on a branch overhanging the 
water, and not at all easy to get, only by scooping them out. ^here 
are plenty of birds here, but I do not get many nests, only three or four 
a season.”* 
“I will premise my remarks by stating that the present year (1889) in 
this part of the country [Lower Lachlan] has been an unprecedently wet one, 
surpassing in this respect the far famed 1870. 
“ Wishing to obtain some spoonbill and herons’ eggs I visited this place 
[Yandenbah] on thfe 22nd of October, and swam into the part of the hollow 
where the heronry is situated. Whilst swimming about I noticed a glossy 
ibis fly off a nest on the branch of a tree, some eight or ten feet above the 
water, but having no idea that this bird bred here, I did not take much notice 
* Robinson, Amtr. Mm. Sp. Cat., no. 1, Vol. IV., p. 11, 1913. 
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