breeding there at a distance of more than three hundred miles from the
sea, and remaining in the midst of the thickest forests^until driven off to
warmer latitudes by the approach of winter. This is the case in the
State of Mississippi, not far from Natchez, and in all the swampy forests
around Bayou Sara and Pointe Coupee, as well as the interior of the
Tloridas. When disturbed in such places, these Ibises fly at once to the
tops of the tallest trees, emitting their hoarse hunk, and watch your motions
with so much care that it is extremely difficult to get within shot
of them.
The manner in which this bird searches for its food is very curious.
The Woodcock and the Snipe, it is true, are probers as well as it, but
their task requires less ingenuity than is exercised by the White or the
Red Ibis. It is also true that the White Ibis frequently seizes on small
crabs, slugs and snails, and even at times on flying insects; but its usual
mode of procuring food is a strong proof that cunning enters as a principal
ingredient in its instinct. The Cray-fish often burrows to the depth
of three or four feet in dry weather, for before it can be comfortable it
must reach the water. This is generally the case during the prolonged
heats of summer, at which time the White Ibis is most pushed for food.
The bird, to procure the Cray-fish, walks with remarkable care towards
the mounds of mud which the latter throws up while forming its hole, and
breaks up the upper part of the fabric, dropping the fragments into the
deep cavity that has been made by the animal. Then the Ibis retires a
single step, and patiently waits the result. The Cray-fish, incommoded
by the load of earth, instantly sets to work anew, and at last reaches the
entrance of its burrow; but the moment it comes in sight, the Ibis seizes
it with his bill.
Whilst at Indian Key, I observed an immense quantity of beautiful
tree snails, of a pyramidal or shortly conical form, some. pure white,
others curiously marked with spiral lines of bright red, yellow and black.
They were crawling vigorously on every branch of each bush where
there was not a nest of theJWbite Ibis; but wherever that bird had
fixed its habitation, not a live snail was to be seen, although hundreds
lay dead beneath. Was this caused by the corrosive quality of the bird's
ordure ?
There is a curious though not altogether general difference between
the sexes of this species as to the plumage:—the male has five of-its
primaries tipped with glossy black for several inches, while the female,
which is very little smaller than the male, has only four marked in this
manner. On examining more than a hundred individuals of each sex, I
found only four exceptions, which occurred in females that were veiy old
birds, and which, as happens in some other species, might perhaps have
been undergoing the curious change exhibited by ducks, pheasants, and
some other birds, the females of which when old sometimes assume the
livery of the males.
Much, as you are aware, good Reader, has been said respecting the
" oil bags" of birds. I dislike controversy, simply because I never saw
the least indications of it in the ways of the Almighty Creator. Should
I err, forgive me, but my opinion is, that these organs were not made
without an object. Why should they consist of matter so conveniently
placed, and so disposed as to issue under the least pressure, through apertures
in the form of well defined tubes ? The White Ibis, as well as the
Wood Ibis, and all the other species of this genus, when in full health,
has these oil bags of great size, and, if my eyes have not deceived me,
makes great use of their contents. Should you feel anxious to satisfy
yourself on this subject, I request of you to keep some Ibises alive for
several weeks, as I have done, and you will have an opportunity of judging.
And again, tell me if the fat contained in these bags is not the very
best lipsalve that can be procured.
When any species of Ibis with which I am acquainted falls into the
water on being wounded, it swims tolerably well; but I have never observed
any taking to the water and swimming either by choice or to escape
pursuit. While in the company of Mr JOSEPH MASON, a young man who
was for some time employed by me, and who has drawn plants to some of
my birds, although not so successfully as my amiable friend Miss MARTIN,
or GEORGE LEHMAN, who finish those they draw as beautifully as my learned
and valued friend WILLIAM MACGII.LIVRAY of Edinburgh does his
faithful drawings of birds, I chanced one morning to be on the look-out for
White Ibises, in a delightful swamp not many miles from Bayou Sara. It
was in the end of summer, and all around was pure and calm as the clear
sky, the bright azure of which was reflected by the lake before us. The
trees had already exchanged the verdure of their foliage for more mellow
tints of diversified hue ; the mast dropped from the boughs ; some of the
Warblers had begun to think of removing farther south; the Night Hawk,
in company with the Chimney Swallow, was passing swiftly towards the