River-banks, edges of large tanks, djeels, swamps, and inundated paddy-fields, are the favourite resorts of these birds, affording them a plentiful supply of the mussels, fish, small reptiles, and similar fare, for which they wade deep into the water during the winter months; whilst in summer, on the contrary, they subsist principally upon larvæ, worms, and insects of various kinds, seizing their prey with great dexterity, even when upon the wing. They roost at night in beds of large reeds, and fly in flocks, which move with remarkable regularity, and generally assume the form of a wedge. The loud call of the Glossy Ibis is often uttered in flight and when alarmed. It is now fully ascertained that these birds breed in Europe, and we have to thank Löbenstein for an account of their nests, as seen by himself in the Donautiefländer. These nests were situated in a reed-covered marsh, and placed on willow bushes, usually at eight or ten feet from the ground. In many instances the nests, which were somewhat numerous, proved to be those of other birds, repaired and lined with straw for the reception of the young. The three or four oval-shaped eggs were about the size of those of the Domestic Hen, and had a thick, blueish green, or pale green, shell. The flesh of the Glossy Ibis is excellent. THE SCARLET IBIS. The SCARLET IBIS (_Ibis rubra_) resembles the species last described in most respects, with some slight difference in the construction of the wings and tail; in the former the third quill is larger than the rest: the face is bare. In the adult bird the plumage is of a uniform bright scarlet, only varied by the blackish brown on the outer web and tips of the quills; the eye is yellow; the beak brown at its extremity, with a flesh-red base; the bare broad bridles and the throat are of the latter colour; and the foot of a somewhat lighter shade. The length is twenty-four inches; the wing measures ten and the tail three inches. In the young the plumage on the back is pale brown, the under side of a whitish hue, and the beak yellowish; the bare face and legs are flesh-red. After the moulting, these colours are paler and greyer; and after the second moulting are exchanged for a pale rose-red, which, at each succeeding change becomes deeper, till it attains the magnificent scarlet of the adult bird. Central America and the northern portions of South America as far as the Amazon are the native haunts of this fine species, and from thence it wanders forth occasionally into the most southern of the United States. Edwards gives the following interesting account of a flock of these beautiful birds that he met with in a cane-brake near the forests bordering the river Amazon:--"In this part the Scarlet Ibis had nested, and the bended tops of the canes were covered with half-grown birds in their black plumage, interspersed with many in the brilliant scarlet plumage of the adult. They seemed little troubled at our approach,