64 
THE WOOD IBIS. 
Tantalus loculator, Linn . 
PLATE COOLXI. — Male. 
This very remarkable bird, and all others of the same genus that are 
known to occur in the United States, are constant residents in some part of 
our Southern Districts, although they perform short migrations. A few of 
them now and then stray as far as the Middle States, but instances of this 
are rare; and I am not aware that any have been seen farther to the eastward 
than the southern portions of Maryland, excepting a few individuals of the 
Glossy and the White Ibises, which have been procured in Pennsylvania, 
New Jersey, and New York. The Carolinas, Georgia, the Floridas, Ala- 
bama, Lower Louisiana, including Opellousas, and Mississippi, are the dis- 
tricts to which they resort by preference, and in which they spend the whole 
year. With the exception of the Glossy Ibis, which may be looked upon as 
a bird of the Mexican territories, and which usually appears in the Union 
singly or in pairs, they all live socially in immense flocks, especially during 
the breeding season. The country which they inhabit is doubtless the best 
suited to their habits ; the vast and numerous swamps, lagoons, bayous, and 
submersed savannahs that occur in the lower parts of our Southern States 
all abounding with fishes and reptiles; and the temperature of these countries 
being congenial to their constitutions. 
In treating of the bird now under your notice, Mr. William Bartram 
says, “ This solitary bird does not associate in flocks, but is generally seen 
alone.” This was published by Wilson, and every individual who has 
since written on the subject, has copied the assertion without probably 
having any other reason than that he believed the authors of it to state a 
fact. But the habits of this species are entirely at variance with the above 
quotation, to which I direct your attention not without a feeling of pain, 
being assured that Mr. Bartram eouldjiave made such a statement only 
because he had few opportunities of studying the bird in question in its 
proper haunts. 
The Wood Ibis is rarely met with single, even after the breeding season, 
and it is more easy for a person to see a hundred together at any period of 
the year than to meet with one by itself. Nay, I have seen flocks com- 
posed of several thousands, and that there is a natural necessity for their 
