(THE JABIRU.)
+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 54·0 inches, wing 26·0,
tail 9·5, tarsus 11·5. _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 circumstance,
for Azara (who gives the Guarani name of the Stork as _Aiaiai_) says
that the Indian word _Yabirú_ 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.