SCARLET IBIS. 
53 
5j%, along the edge of lower mandible 5 T 2 f ; wing from flexure 114; tail 4-J-; 
bare part of tibia 2^; hind toe ly^, its claw ft; second toe l}f its claw f|; 
third toe 2j\, its claw y 7 ^; fourth toe 2-^, its claw T * 5 ; 
The Female is similar to the male, but somewhat less. 
The young in its second plumage has the bill dusky, tinged with yellow, 
the bare part of the head dusky ; the feet blackish-brown, the head, neck, 
and lower parts are greyish-brown; the head and greater part of the neck 
marked with small longitudinal streaks of white, of which there are two on 
each feather. All the upper parts are blackish-green, glossy in a less 
degree than those of the adult. 
On comparing adult American specimens with others obtained on the old 
continent, I can perceive no difference between them. A young Mexican 
bird, and one from India, are also precisely similar. I cannot therefore 
entertain a doubt as to the identity of our bird with the Tantalus Falci- 
nellus of Latham and other European writers, which has been shown by 
Savigny to be the Black Ibis of the ancients. 
SCAKLET IBIS. 
Ibis rubra, Linn . 
PLATE CCCLIX. — Adult Male and Young. 
It was supposed by Wilson, and since his time by others, that this 
brilliantly coloured Ibis is not uncommon in the southern partsof the United 
States. This opinion, however, is quite erroneous, and I have found the 
Scarlet Ibis less numerous than even the Glossy Ibis ; indeed I have not met 
with more than three individuals in a state of liberty, in the whole range of 
the United States. These birds occurred at Bayou Sara, in Louisiana, on 
the 3d of July, 1821. They were travelling in a line, in the manner of the 
White Ibis, above the tops of the trees. Although I had only a glimpse of 
them, I saw them sufficiently well to be assured of their belonging to the 
present species, and therefore I have thought it proper to introduce it into 
our Fauna. Wilson’s figure, I believe, was taken from a living specimen, 
not, however, procured within the limits of the United States, and which 
