12 
tangled mass of Polygonum stems on which the nests were placed, 
but in doing so it was evident that numbers would perish, for I 
could see them suspended by the neck, wings, or legs in all direc¬ 
tions, in their clumsy efforts to hide themselves. On a further 
search of the Polygonum scrub, which was of immense extent, 1 
had the good luck to discover several other colonies, many of the 
nests containing eggs, though young birds were far more numerous. 
The various nests I examined contained from one to three eggs, 
but strange to say they were all in an advanced stage of incuba¬ 
tion, no matter what the number was. 1 succeeded however, in 
obtaining nine eggs, three from one nest and two each from three 
others. In no instance did I observe more than three eggs or 
three young birds in any nest. The nests are similar in con¬ 
struction and material to those of Geronticus spinicollis, being 
nearly flat structures composed of long spiny sticks and twigs 
interlaced through one another, measuring about eighteen inches 
in diameter by six in height, the colonies however are smaller and 
more separated, each containing from ten to fifteen nests, whilst 
those of Geronticus spinicollis , are from fifty to a hundred and even 
more, this possibly is accounted for by the fact of the latter being 
infinitely more numerous. 
“ Having thus obtained the eggs of Threshiornis strictipennis, 
I went on to the breeding place of Geronticus spinicollis, several 
hundred yards distant, here as with the White Ibis, I found the 
young birds far more numerous than the eggs, but as the nests 
were in such numbers I had no difficulty in obtaining as many 
eggs as I required. This breeding place was of great extent, and 
there must have been thousands of young ones, the whole place 
being fairly alive with them as they scrambled oil on my near 
approach, so much so, that the moving mass quite frightened my 
horse, and I had some difficulty in getting him near enougli to the 
nests to reach the eggs. In trying to secrete themselves, 1 observed 
that numbers of the young birds shared the same fate as their 
white confreres, whilst numbers of dead ones in the same fix 
showed plainly that they had been disturbed on some previous 
occasion. 
