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Range (Tropical and subtropical) (VI)

Tropical and subtropical regions generally; rare and of local distribution in the southeastern United States and West Indies. Washington, A. V., two records. Long Island, A. V., two records. Cambridge, A. V., one record, May. Nest, of rushes, plant stems, etc., in reedy swamps or low bushes. Eggs, three, rather deep, dull blue, 2.01 × 1.47.

This is a rare species in the eastern United States. Its haunts are of much the same nature as those of the preceding species. The WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS (187. Plegadis guarauna), a locally common species from Texas westward and southward, has been recorded but once from east of the Mississippi, viz., at or near Lake Washington, Florida, where a female was shot on a nest containing three eggs (Brewster, Auk, iii, 1886, p. 482). This species resembles the Glossy Ibis, but adults have the region about the base of the bill white.

FAMILY CICONIIDÆ. STORKS.

Only two of the twenty-five known species included in this family are found in North America. Storks are both gregarious and solitary. Our species, the so-called Wood Ibis, is as a rule found in flocks and nests in colonies. It feeds in swamps and on the shores of bayous, where it is said to "rake" the bottom with its foot in searching for food. It is a strong flier, a certain number of wing-strokes being followed by a short sail. At times it mounts high in the air and sails about like a Vulture. Sometimes it perches upon trees. Its voice is described as a rough, guttural croak.

HERONS AND BITTERNS. 188. Tantalus loculator Linn. WOOD IBIS. Ad.-Head and neck bare; primaries, secondaries, and tail glossy greenish black, rest of plumage white. Im. Head more or less feathered; head and neck grayish brown, blacker on the nape; rest of plumage as in the adult, but more or less marked with grayish; wings and tail less greenish. L., 40.00; W., 18.00; Tar., 7.60; B. from N., 8.00.