1. The Scarlet Ibis

2. rank: thick and wild; smelly or overripe

3. imminent:
near; about to happen

4. iridescent: rainbow-like; displaying a shifting range of colors

5. blighted: suffering from conditions that destroy or prevent growth

6. entrails: inner organs; guts

7. infallibility: inability to make a mistake

8. stubbornness; persistence
doggedness:
stubbornness; persistence

9. reiterated: repeated

10. unsteadily; insecurely
precariously:
unsteadily; insecurely

11. evanesced: faded away; disappeared

12. sullenly:
gloomily or resentfully

13. lingered: slow or reluctant to leave, stayed about
(slang: To hang around)