(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.
_Hab._ South-east Brazil and Argentina.
This noble Ibis ranges from Brazil, south of the Amazons, to the pampas
of Buenos Ayres. It is a bird of the marshes, nowhere abundant, and yet
is exceedingly well known to most people in the Argentine country: it
would be difficult indeed to overlook a species possessing so peculiar
and powerful a voice. In the vernacular it is called _Vanduria_, with
the addition of _aplomado_, or _barroso_, or _de las lagunas_, to
distinguish it from the Winter Vanduria. The word is also frequently
spelt _Manduria_ or _Banduria_, but it does not come from _Bandada_
(flock), as Mr. Barrows imagines when he gives this vernacular name
to the Glossy Ibis; but from the Spanish stringed instrument called
Vanduria. Possibly the instrument is obsolete now; not so the word,
however, and it is sometimes used by the poets, instead of "harp" or
"lyre," to symbolize poetic inspiration. Thus Iriarte:--
"Atencion! que la vanduria he templado."
If one could get a banjo with brass strings so big that it could be
heard a mile and a half away, a dozen strokes dealt in swift succession
on one string would produce a sound resembling the call of this Ibis--a
voice of the desolate marshes, which competes in power with the
outrageous human-like shrieks of the Ypecaha Rail, the long resounding
wails of the Crazy Widow or Courlan, and the morning song of the Crested
Screamer.
The Vanduria is usually seen singly or in pairs, and sometimes, but
rarely, in small companies of half a dozen birds. In its habits it
is like a Tantalus, wading in the shallow water of the marshes, and
devouring eels, frogs, fish, &c. After examining the well-filled
stomachs of a few individuals, one is strongly tempted to believe that
the beautiful long beak of this Ibis has "forgotten its cunning" as a
probe. At intervals in the daytime it utters, standing on the ground,
its resonant metallic cry. It is wary and has a strong easy flight, and
is a great wanderer, but I am not able to say whether it possesses a
regular migration or not.
The celebrated naturalist Natterer procured specimens of this Ibis in
the lagoons of Caiçara, in the Brazilian Province of Matogrosso, in
September and November, 1825, but it is not mentioned by general writers
on the birds of S.E. Brazil.