(WHISPERING IBIS.)
+Ibis infuscata+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 511 (Rio Paraná).
+Phimosus infuscatus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 127; _Durnford,
Ibis_, 1878, p. 63 (Buenos Ayres); _Salv. Ibis_, 1880, p. 363
(Salta); _Elliot, P. Z. S._ 1877, p. 495.
_Description._--Plumage dark bronzy green, glossed with purple; fore
part and sides of head and neck naked, red; bill and feet red: whole
length 24·0 inches, wing 11·5, tail 6·0, bill 5·2. _Female_ similar.
_Hab._ South America from Colombia south to Argentina.
Of this Ibis, which ranges from Colombia to the Argentine Republic, a
few individuals come as far south as the pampas of Buenos Ayres.
The fore part of the head and throat being unfeathered, suggested to
Azara the name of _Afeytado_, or "shaved," but about its habits he has
nothing to say, nor does he mention its peculiar voice, or, perhaps it
would be more correct to say, its want of voice; for it seems quite
silent unless one comes near to it and listens very intently, when he
will be able to hear little sigh-like puffs of sound as the bird flies
away. It seems strange that this member of a loquacious loud-voiced
family should be reduced to speak, as it were, in whispers!
On two or three occasions I have seen as many as half a dozen
individuals together; at other times I have seen one or two associating
with the Glossy Ibis.
Azara's name "Shaved" Ibis seems well enough in Spanish, just as his
"Throat-cut" for a Starling with a scarlet throat does not strike one as
at all shocking in that language; but for an English name I fancy that
"Whispering Ibis," from the whisper-like sound the bird emits, would be
more suitable, or, at all events, better sounding.
It is possible that two races of this Ibis exist on the South-American
continent; for in Brazil and further north it is said to have a loud
cry, uttered when taking wing, as in the case of the Glossy Ibis; and
one of its native names in the tropics--_curri-curri_--is said to be an
imitation of its usual note.