39 
WOOD IBIS. 
TJINTJILUS LOCULATOE. 
[Plate LXVL— Fig. 1.] 
Gmel. Syst^ p , 647. — Le grand Coiirly d'Amenque^ Briss. V, p. 335, 8. — Couricaca, 
Buff. VII, /i. 276. PL Enl. 868. — JVood Pelican^ Catesby, I, 81. — Arct, ZooLNo, 360. 
— Lath. Syn. HI,/?. 104. — Ind. Orn. /». 702. — Peale’s Ab. 3832. 
THE Wood Ibis inhabits the lower parts of Louisiana, Ca- 
rolina, and Georgia ; is very common in Florida, and extends as 
far south as Cayenne, Brasil, and various parts of South America. 
In the United States it is migratory; but has never, to my know- 
ledge, been found to the north of Virginia. Its favorite haunts 
are watery savannahs, and inland swamps, where it feeds on fish 
and reptiles. The French inhabitants of Louisiana esteem it good 
eating. 
With the particular manners of this species I am not per- 
sonally acquainted ; but the following characteristic traits are given 
of it by Mr. William Bartram, who had the best opportunities of 
noting them. 
“ This solitary bird,” he observes, “ does not associate in 
flocks ; but is generally seen alone, commonly near the banks of 
great rivers, in vast marshes or meadows, especially such as are 
covered by inundations, and also in the vast deserted rice planta- 
tions ; he stands alone, on the topmost limb of tall dead cypress 
trees, his neck contracted or drawn in upon his shoulders, and his 
beak resting like a long scythe upon his breast ; in this pensive 
posture, and solitary situation, they look extremely grave, sorrow- 
ful and melancholy, as if in the deepest thought. They are never 
seen on the seacoast, and yet are never found at a great distance 
