Volume Ii Part 21 (1/2)

In Patagonia I first observed this Ibis roosting on tall trees; and, according to Azara, it possesses the same habit in Paraguay. He says that all the flocks within a circuit of some leagues resort to one spot to sleep, and prefer tall dead trees bordering on the water, and if there is only one suitable tree all the birds crowd on to it, and in the morning scatter, each family or pair flying away to spend the day in its customary feeding-ground.

The egg obtained by Dr. Cunningham at Elizabeth Island is thus described by Prof. Newton (Ibis, 1870, p. 502)[5]:--”Dull surface of a pale greenish white with engrained blotches (mostly small) of neutral tint, and some few blotches, spots, and specks of dull deep brown; towards the larger end some hair-like streaks of a lighter shade of the same, and so far having an Ibidine or Plataleine character.”

[5] See also figure, P. Z. S. 1871, pl. iv. fig. 8.

329. HARPIPRION CaeRULESCENS (Vieill.).

(PLUMBEOUS IBIS.)

+Harpiprion caerulescens+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 127; _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p. 159 (Buenos Ayres). +Molybdophanes caerulescens+, _Elliot, P. Z. S._ 1877, p. 503. +Ibis plumbea+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 510 (Entrerios). +Ibis caerulescens+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 635 (Buenos Ayres).

_Description._--A white bar commencing above and behind the eye covers the forehead; top of head and lengthened nuchal crest dark brown, with a slight greenish tinge; throat and neck covered with long narrow feathers, light brown, in certain lights having a pinkish tinge; upper parts pale bronzy green; wings like the back, in some lights the feathers have a silvery gloss; primaries deep blue, greenish towards the edges of the outer webs; tail dark green; entire underparts brownish grey, with light pink reflexions in certain lights; bill black; feet yellow: whole length 330 inches, wing 155, tail 75, bill 65. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ South-east Brazil and Argentina.

This n.o.ble Ibis ranges from Brazil, south of the Amazons, to the pampas of Buenos Ayres. It is a bird of the marshes, nowhere abundant, and yet is exceedingly well known to most people in the Argentine country: it would be difficult indeed to overlook a species possessing so peculiar and powerful a voice. In the vernacular it is called _Vanduria_, with the addition of _aplomado_, or _barroso_, or _de las lagunas_, to distinguish it from the Winter Vanduria. The word is also frequently spelt _Manduria_ or _Banduria_, but it does not come from _Bandada_ (flock), as Mr. Barrows imagines when he gives this vernacular name to the Glossy Ibis; but from the Spanish stringed instrument called Vanduria. Possibly the instrument is obsolete now; not so the word, however, and it is sometimes used by the poets, instead of ”harp” or ”lyre,” to symbolize poetic inspiration. Thus Iriarte:--

”Atencion! que la vanduria he templado.”

If one could get a banjo with bra.s.s strings so big that it could be heard a mile and a half away, a dozen strokes dealt in swift succession on one string would produce a sound resembling the call of this Ibis--a voice of the desolate marshes, which competes in power with the outrageous human-like shrieks of the Ypecaha Rail, the long resounding wails of the Crazy Widow or Courlan, and the morning song of the Crested Screamer.

The Vanduria is usually seen singly or in pairs, and sometimes, but rarely, in small companies of half a dozen birds. In its habits it is like a Tantalus, wading in the shallow water of the marshes, and devouring eels, frogs, fish, &c. After examining the well-filled stomachs of a few individuals, one is strongly tempted to believe that the beautiful long beak of this Ibis has ”forgotten its cunning” as a probe. At intervals in the daytime it utters, standing on the ground, its resonant metallic cry. It is wary and has a strong easy flight, and is a great wanderer, but I am not able to say whether it possesses a regular migration or not.

The celebrated naturalist Natterer procured specimens of this Ibis in the lagoons of Caicara, in the Brazilian Province of Matogrosso, in September and November, 1825, but it is not mentioned by general writers on the birds of S.E. Brazil.

330. PHIMOSUS INFUSCATUS (Licht.).

(WHISPERING IBIS.)

+Ibis infuscata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 511 (Rio Parana).

+Phimosus infuscatus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 127; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 63 (Buenos Ayres); _Salv. Ibis_, 1880, p. 363 (Salta); _Elliot, P. Z. S._ 1877, p. 495.

_Description._--Plumage dark bronzy green, glossed with purple; fore part and sides of head and neck naked, red; bill and feet red: whole length 240 inches, wing 115, tail 60, bill 52. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ South America from Colombia south to Argentina.

Of this Ibis, which ranges from Colombia to the Argentine Republic, a few individuals come as far south as the pampas of Buenos Ayres.

The fore part of the head and throat being unfeathered, suggested to Azara the name of _Afeytado_, or ”shaved,” but about its habits he has nothing to say, nor does he mention its peculiar voice, or, perhaps it would be more correct to say, its want of voice; for it seems quite silent unless one comes near to it and listens very intently, when he will be able to hear little sigh-like puffs of sound as the bird flies away. It seems strange that this member of a loquacious loud-voiced family should be reduced to speak, as it were, in whispers!

On two or three occasions I have seen as many as half a dozen individuals together; at other times I have seen one or two a.s.sociating with the Glossy Ibis.

Azara's name ”Shaved” Ibis seems well enough in Spanish, just as his ”Throat-cut” for a Starling with a scarlet throat does not strike one as at all shocking in that language; but for an English name I fancy that ”Whispering Ibis,” from the whisper-like sound the bird emits, would be more suitable, or, at all events, better sounding.

It is possible that two races of this Ibis exist on the South-American continent; for in Brazil and further north it is said to have a loud cry, uttered when taking wing, as in the case of the Glossy Ibis; and one of its native names in the tropics--_curri-curri_--is said to be an imitation of its usual note.

331. AJAJA ROSEA, Reichenb.

(ROSEATE SPOONBILL.)