Argentine Ornithology Volume Ii Part 20

+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.

On the pampas it is not uncommon in summer and autumn, and goes in flocks of a dozen or twenty. The birds are usually seen standing motionless in groups or scattered about in spiritless att.i.tudes, apparently dozing away the time. On the wing it appears to better advantage, having a singularly calm stately flight; on a warm still day they are often seen soaring in circles very far up in the sky.

I have never heard of this bird nesting on the pampas, and am inclined to think that it only breeds in forest-regions, and visits the marshes in the treeless districts after the young have flown.

Its habits in North America, where it is called the "Wood-Ibis," are tolerably well known, and in the ornithological works of that country it is described as "a hermit standing listless and alone on the topmost limb of some tall decayed cypress, its neck drawn in upon its shoulders, and its enormous bill resting like a scythe upon its breast."

It there nests on tall trees, sometimes in company with Egrets, and lays three white eggs.

Fam. x.x.xVII. PLATALEIDae, or IBISES.

The Spoonbills and Ibises const.i.tute a h.o.m.ogeneous family of Herodiones, which have a wide distribution over the earth's surface, although mostly prevalent within intertropical limits. They fall naturally into two groups--the Ibises, distinguished by their elongated, compressed, and sickle-shaped bills; and the Spoonbills, at once known by the peculiar form of the same organ, which is much expanded at its termination.

Of about twenty-five known species of Ibises, the Neotropical Region possesses eight or nine, and of these four occur in Argentina. Of the Spoonbills only one is Neotropical, and that is met with throughout the southern portion of South America.

327. PLEGADIS GUARAUNA (Linn.).

(WHITE-FACED IBIS.)

+Plegadis guarauna+, _Baird, Brew., et Ridgw. Water-B. N. A._ i. p.

97. +Falcinellus guarauna+, _Elliot, P. Z. S._ 1877, p. 505.

+Ibis falcinellus+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1870, p. 799 (Buenos Ayres). +Falcinellus igneus+, _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 189 (Buenos Ayres). +Plegadis falcinellus+, _Gibson, Ibis_, 1880, p.

155 (Buenos Ayres); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 272 (Entrerios).

+Ibis chalcoptera+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 511 (Parana, Mendoza).

_Description._--Head, neck, and under surface purplish chestnut, with a white band round the base of the bill; back with metallic reflexions; wings and tail bright green, with bronzy reflexions; band across upper wing-coverts chestnut; bill reddish grey; feet brown: whole length 220 inches, wing 90, tail 30. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Central and South America.

This form of the well-known "Glossy Ibis" of Europe is one of our most abundant waterfowl on the pampas, and appears in spring in flocks; but as their movements are somewhat irregular and many individuals remain with us through the winter, their migrations probably do not extend very far. In summer they are found beside every marsh and watercourse, briskly wading about in the shallow water and plunging their long curved beaks downwards at every step. When taking wing they invariably utter a loud _ha ha ha_, resembling hearty human laughter, but somewhat nasal in sound. They frequently leave the marshy places and are seen scattered about the gra.s.sy plains, feeding like land-birds; and on the pampas they often congregate about the carca.s.s of a dead horse or cow, to feed on the larvae of the flesh-fly in company with the Milvago and the Hooded Gull.

Their flight is singularly graceful; and during migration the flocks are seen to follow each other in rapid succession, each flock being usually composed of from fifty to a hundred individuals, sometimes of a much larger number. It is most interesting to watch them at such times, now soaring high in the air, displaying the deep chestnut hue of their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, then descending with a graceful curve towards the earth, as if to exhibit the dark metallic green and purple reflexions of their upper plumage. The flock is meanwhile continually changing its form or disposition, as if at the signal of a leader. One moment it spreads out in a long straight line; suddenly the birds scatter in disorder, or throw themselves together like a cloud of Starlings; as suddenly they again reform to continue their journey in the figure of a phalanx, half-moon, or triangle. The fanciful notion can scarcely fail to suggest itself to the spectator that the birds go through these unnecessary evolutions intelligently in order to attain a greater proficiency in them by practice, or, perhaps, merely to make a display of their aerial accomplishments. The Glossy Ibis has another remarkable habit when on the wing. At times the flock appears as if suddenly seized with frenzy or panic, every bird rushing wildly away from its fellows, and descending with a violent zigzag flight; in a few moments the mad fit leaves them, they rise again, rea.s.semble in the air, and resume their journey.

328. THERISTICUS CAUDATUS (Bodd.).

(BLACK-FACED IBIS.)

+Theristicus melanops+, _Darwin, Zool. Beagle_, iii. p. 128 (Patagonia). +Geronticus melanopis+, _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1871, p.

261. +Theristicus melanopis+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 127; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 190 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 400 (Patagonia); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 272 (Azul). +Theristicus caudatus+, _Elliot, P. Z. S._ 1877, p. 498. +Ibis albicollis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 510 (Parana, Mendoza, Tuc.u.man).

_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 330 inches, wing 1625, tail 975, bill along culmen 70, tarsus 35. _Female_ similar.

_Hab._ Antarctic South America.

This very fine Ibis, called _Mandurria o curucau_ 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 lat.i.tude 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 gra.s.sy 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 princ.i.p.ally on the larvae 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 att.i.tude. 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 ma.s.sed 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.