Volume Ii Part 20 (1/2)

+Mycteria americana+, _Baird, Brew., et Ridgw. Water-B. N. A._ i. p.

79; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 126; _Berl. J. f. O._ 1887, p. 32 (Paraguay).

_Description._--Plumage white; bill, naked head, and neck and feet black; naked crop in life red: whole length 540 inches, wing 260, tail 95, tarsus 115. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Texas and Central and South America to La Plata.

This is a majestic bird, the largest of the American Storks; it stands five feet high, and the wings have a spread of nearly eight feet. The entire plumage is pure white, the head and six inches of the neck covered with a naked black skin; from the black part extend two scarlet bands, the skin being glossy and exceedingly loose, and run narrowing down to the chest. When the bird is wounded or enraged, this loose red skin is said to swell out like a bladder, changing to an intensely fiery scarlet hue. The name ”_Jabiru_” is doubtless due to this circ.u.mstance, for Azara (who gives the Guarani name of the Stork as _Aiaiai_) says that the Indian word _Yabiru_ signifies blown out with wind.

The Jabiru is but rarely found near Buenos Ayres, but occurs more frequently in Misiones, and in other districts on the northern frontiers of the Republic. It nests on high trees, as has been recorded by Brown[4], and is said to lay ”blue-green” eggs.

[4] Canoe and Camp-Life in British Guiana, p. 272.

325. EUXENURA MAGUARI (Gm.).

(MAGUARI STORK.)

+Ciconia maguari+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 509 (Tuc.u.man); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 126; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 189 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 399 (Centr. Patagonia); _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 153 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 271 (Entrerios). +Euxenura maguari+, _Baird, Brew., et Ridgw.

Water-B. N. A._ i. p. 77.

_Description._--Plumage white; wings and upper tail-coverts black; naked lores and feet red; bill horn-colour, yellowish at the base: whole length 400 inches, wing 200, tail 80. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ South America.

The Maguari Stork is a well-known bird on the pampas, breeding in the marshes, and also wading for its food in the shallow water; but it is not nearly so aquatic in its habits as the Jabiru, and after the breeding-season is over it is seen everywhere on the dry plains. Here these birds prey on mice, snakes, and toads, but also frequently visit the cultivated fields in quest of food. When mice or frogs are exceptionally abundant on the pampas, the Storks often appear in large numbers, and at such times I have seen them congregating by hundreds in the evening beside the water; but in the daytime they scatter over the feeding-ground, where they are seen stalking along, intent on their prey, with majestic Crane-like strides. To rise they give three long jumps before committing themselves to the air, and like all heavy fliers make a loud noise with their wings. They are never seen to alight on trees, like the Jabiru, and are absolutely dumb, unless the clattering they make with the bill when angry can be called a language.

The laying-time is about the middle of August, and the nest is built up amongst the rushes, rising about two feet above the surface of the water. The eggs are rather long, three or four in number, and of a chalky white.

Mr. Gibson, of Buenos Ayres, furnishes the following lively account of a young Maguari:--”One, which I took on October 5, was about the size of a domestic fowl, in down, and, with the exception of the white tail, entirely black. It soon became very tame, and used to wander all over the premises, looking for food, or watching any work that was going on.

Rats were swallowed whole; and the way it would gulp down a pound or two of raw meat would have horrified an English housekeeper. Snakes it seized by the nape of the neck, and pa.s.sed them transversely through its bill by a succession of rapid and powerful nips, repeating the operation two or three times before being satisfied that life was totally extinct.

It used often to do the same thing with dry sticks (in order not to forget the way, I suppose); while on one occasion it swallowed a piece of hard cowhide, a foot long, and consequently could not bend its neck for twenty-four hours after--till the hide softened, in fact. The story also went that 'Byles, the lawyer' (as he was called), mistook the tail of one of the pet lambs for a snake, and actually had it down his throat, but was 'brought up' by the body of the lamb! Byles inspired a wholesome respect in all the dogs and cats, but was very peaceable as a rule. One of our men had played some trick on him, however; and the result was that Byles generally went for him on every possible occasion, his long legs covering the ground like those of an Ostrich, while he produced a demoniacal row with his bill. It was amusing to see his victim dodging him all over the place, or sometimes, in desperation, turning on him with a stick; but Byles evaded every blow by jumping eight feet into the air, coming down on the other side of his enemy and there repeating his war dance; while he always threatened (though his threats were never fulfilled) to make personal and pointed remarks with his formidable bill.

”Shortly after his capture feathers began to appear; and the following is a description of the bird at the age of about two months:--Tail-feathers white, remainder of plumage glossy green-black; bill black; legs and feet grey. Spots and patches of white began to appear on head, back, and wings; these gradually extended, until, by the end of May, the adult plumage was all acquired. Then my interest in Byles ceased, and latterly he strayed away to his native swamps.”

326. TANTALUS LOCULATOR, Linn.

(THE WOOD-IBIS.)

+Tantalus loculator+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 510 (Rio Parana); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 126; _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 272 (Entrerios); _Baird, Brew., et Ridgw. Water-B. N. A._ i.

p. 81.

_Description._--Plumage white, greater wing-coverts and wing- and tail-feathers black with bronzy reflexions; head and upper half of neck naked, dusky; vertex covered with a h.o.r.n.y plate; bill yellowish brown; sides of head purplish; feet bluish: whole length 440 inches, wing 170, tail 60. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ North and South America.

Most people in the Plata region are familiar with this bird of the marshes, its lofty stork-like figure and white plumage making it a very conspicuous object.