WHITE IBIS. 
65 
ever, are not made with any certainty of its being the same, 
but as circumstances which may lead to a more precise exami- 
nation of the subject hereafter. 
I found this species pretty numerous on the borders of Lake 
Pontchartrain, near New Orleans,-rn the month of June, and 
also observed the Indians sitting in market with strings of 
them for sale. I met with them again on the low keys or 
islands off the Peninsula of Florida. Mr Bartram observes, 
that “ they fly in large flocks or squadrons, evening and 
morning, to and from their feeding places or roosts, and are 
usually called Spanish curlews. They feed chiefly on cray fish, 
whose cells they probe, and, with their strong pinching bills, 
drag them out.” The low islands above mentioned abound 
with these creatures and small crabs, the ground in some 
places seeming alive with them, so that the rattling of their 
shells against one another was incessant. My venerable friend, 
in his observations on these birds, adds, It is a pleasing sight 
at times of high winds, and heavy thunder storms, to observe 
the numerous squadrons of these Spanish curlews, driving to 
and fro, turning and tacking about high up in the air, when, by 
their various evolutions in the different and opposite currents 
of the wind, high in the clouds, their silvery white plumage 
gleams and sparkles like the brightest crystal, reflecting the 
sunbeams that dart upon them between the dark clouds.” 
The white ibis is twenty-three inches long, and thirty-seven 
inches in extent ; bill formed exactly like that of the scarlet 
species, of a pale red, blackish towards the point ; face a red- 
dish flesh colour, and finely wrinkled ; irides, whitish ; whole 
plumage pure white, except about four inches of the tips of the 
four outer quill-feathers, which are of a deep and glossy steel 
blue; legs and feet pale red, webbed to the first joint. 
These birds I frequently observed standing on the dead 
limbs of trees, and on the shore, resting on one leg, their body 
in an almost perpendicular position, as represented in the 
figure, the head and bill resting on the breast. This appears 
to be its most common mode of resting, and perhaps sleeping, 
VOL. III. E 
