Description.—Sides of throat, and lores bare, skin black; top of head and lower part of neck in front reddish chestnut; neck white, a narrow line of feathers running up the centre of the throat to the chin; back and wings greyish brown, with green reflexions, feathers edged with light brown or whitish; tertials and outer webs of secondaries for two thirds of their length white, remainder dark green; primaries dark green; rump and upper tail-coverts light bronzy green; tail dark bronze-green; underparts brownish black, with green reflexions: whole length 33·0 inches, wing 16·25, tail 9·75, bill along culmen 7·0, tarsus 3·5. Female similar.
Hab. Antarctic South America.
This very fine Ibis, called Mandurria ó curucáu by Azara and Vanduria de Invierno (winter Vanduria) in the vernacular, is one of the most interesting winter visitors from Patagonia to the pampas of Buenos Ayres. It is found in Chili, and has even been obtained as far north as Peru. On the east side of the continent it is most abundant (during the cold season) about latitude 37° or 38°. Its summer home and breeding-ground appears to be in the extreme south of the continent, its eggs having been obtained in the Straits of Magellan by Darwin, and recently by Dr. Cunningham, who only says of it that it is a shy and wary bird, that goes in flocks of from four to eight, and has a cry resembling qua-qua, qua-qua. But he might just as well have spelt it quack-quack, since qua-qua fails to give the faintest idea of the series of hard abrupt notes of extraordinary power the bird utters, usually when on the wing, which sound like blows of a powerful hammer on a metal plate. On the pampas this Ibis appears in May, frequents dry grassy situations, and goes in flocks of a dozen to forty or fifty individuals. They walk rapidly, stooping very much, and probing the ground with their long slender curved beaks, and appear to subsist principally on the larvæ of the large, horned beetle, with which their stomachs are usually found filled. So intent are they on seeking their food that the members of a flock often scatter in all directions and wander quite out of sight of each other; when this happens they occasionally utter loud vehement cries, as if to call their companions, or to inform each other of their whereabouts. Frequently one is seen to lift up its wings as if to fly, and, stretching them up vertically, to remain for fifteen or twenty seconds in this curious attitude. At sunset they all rise up clamouring, and direct their flight to the nearest watercourse, and often on their way thither go through a strange and interesting performance. The flock suddenly precipitates itself downwards with a violence wonderful to see, each bird rushing this way and that as if striving to outvie its fellows in every wild fantastic motion of which they are capable. In this manner they rise and descend again and again, sometimes massed together, then scattered wide apart in all directions. This exercise they keep up for some time, and while it lasts they make the air resound for miles around with their loud percussive screams.
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 CÆRULESCENS (Vieill.).
(PLUMBEOUS IBIS.)
Harpiprion cærulescens, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 127; Gibson, Ibis, 1880, p. 159 (Buenos Ayres). Molybdophanes cærulescens, Elliot, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 503. Ibis plumbea, Burm. La-Plata Reise, ii. p. 510 (Entrerios). Ibis cærulescens, 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 33·0 inches, wing 15·5, tail 7·5, bill 6·5. Female similar.