OCR Text |
Show 494 MR. D. G. ELLIOT ON THE IBIDINSE. [June 5, skin brilliant crimson. Back of head and neck covered with long loose feathers, dark purple with green reflections. Back, wings, and tail dark greenish-bronze with a large patch of red bronze upon the shoulder. Primaries dark green. Entire underparts very dark greenish-bronze, almost black. Legs and feet bright red. Bill crimson. Total length 29 inches; wing 16, tail 8, bill along culmen 5, tarsus 3. The young has all the face covered with dirty-white feathers, changing to slate-grey upon the lower part of the neck. 9. GERONTICUS CALVUS. Courly d tete nue du Cap de bonne Esperance, Buff. Pl. Enl. no. 867. Tantalus calvus, Bodd. Tabl. Pl. Enl. d. D'Aub. (1783) p. 52 ; Lath. Ind. Ornith. (1790). vol. ii. p. 708. sp. 17. Black Ibis, Lath. Gen. Syn. (1783) vol. iii. p. 112. sp. 11. Bald Ibis, Lath. Gen. Syn. (1783) vol. iii. p. 116. sp. 16. Tantalus niger, Gmel. Syst. Nat. (1788) p. 650. sp. 14; Lath. Ind. Orn. (1790) vol. ii. p. 707. sp. 13 ; Vieill. Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat. (1817) vol. xvi. p. 21. Ibis calva, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat. (1817) vol. xvi. p. 23 ; id. Ency. Me'th. (1823) torn. iii. p. 1150 ; Wagl. Syst. Av. (1827) sp. 11 ; id. Isis (1829) p. 761; Schleg. Mus. P.-Bas (1863) livr. 4, p. IL Ibis gonocephala, Wagl. Isis (1829), p. 761. Geronticus calvus, Wagl. Isis (1832) p. 1232; Gray, Gen. Birds (1849) vol. iii. p. 567. sp. 2 ; Bon. Consp. Gen. Av. (1857) vol. iii. p. 153 ; Gurney, Ibis (1860) p. 219. sp. 116 ; Layard, B. S. Afr. (1867) p. 321. sp. 606 ; Gray, Hand-1. B. (1871) pt. iii. p. 39 ; Gurney, B. Damara L. (1872) p. 297. Hab. South Africa (Layard), Orange River, Damara Land (Andersson). This species was named by Boddaert (I. c.) Tantalus calvus. It is true that Forster in his • Descriptiones Animalium' gave the name of capensis to the same bird ; but as this does not appear to have been published by the author, and was unrecognized until Lichtenstein issued his edition in 1844, Forster's name will of course sink into a synonym. According to Mr. Ayres this species feeds entirely on insects, chiefly beetles. They frequent the land from which the grass has been burnt, and are very wary, being constantly on the move all day. Although living inland, during the winter months they approach within ten miles of the coast. Steedman states that this Ibis nests in companies in the clefts of the sides of precipices. In this respect it resembles the G. comatus. Layard says that the Bald Ibis, known to the Dutch colonists as the Wilde Kalkoen (wild Turkey), is not rare on the eastern frontier, but not often found on the western. He understood that it was a very foul feeder, frequenting the vicinity of villages and acting the part of a scavenger. One that Sir George Grey had in captivity walked very rapidly, and was always occupied in |