KEYS 



KEY TO THE MAIN GROUPS OF CALIFORNIA GAME BIRDS 



PAGE 



1. Feet fully webbed between front toes (fig. 1) ; bill usually broad and 

 flat (figs. 9 and 10), rarely slender (figs. 7 and 8), and always pro- 

 vided either with cross-ridges or ' ' teeth. ' ' 



Ducks, Geese, and Swans 69 

 1'. Feet without webs (or else only partly webbed [figs. 5(6 and 61]); 

 bill without cross-ridges or "teeth" and never "duck-like" in 

 shape. 

 2. Legs and feet short, tarsus (leg) never more than one-tenth total 

 length of bird; ends of claws never reaching beyond ends of 

 longest under tail coverts; claw of hind toe reaching to base 

 of claw on outer toe. Pigeons and iJoves 78 



2'. Legs and feet longer, tarsus (leg) always more than one-tenth total 

 length; ends of claws reaching to or beyond ends of longest 

 under tail coverts; claw of hind toe never reaching base of claw 

 on outer toe. 

 3. Area between bill and eye and space around eye naked (figs. 



42-44). Ibises and Spoonbill 73 



3'. Area between bill and eye and space around eye always feathered 

 (feathers sometimes bristle-like). 

 4. Wing more than 17.00 inches (430 mm.) long; bill more than 



3.00 (76 mm.) (fig. 45). Cranes 74 



4'. Wing less than 13.00 inches (328 mm.) long. 



5. Bill "chicken-like," never more than one-third as long as 

 head (except in Eing-necked Pheasant) ; tip of upper 

 mandible curved abruptly downward, covering tip of lower 

 mandible (fig. 81). Pheasant, Quails, and Grouses 77 



5'. Bill never "chicken-like," always more than one:third as 

 long as head, and tip of lower mandible never covered. 

 6. Wing less than four times as long as middle toe without 



claw. Rails, Gallinule, and Mud-hen 74 



6'. Wing more than four times as long as middle toe without 



claw. Shore Birds 74 



DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 



1. Plumage (including all flight feathers) entirely white; neck as long 

 or longer than body; area between bill and eye naked (flg. 40). 

 2. Larger; bill entirely black; hind margin of nostril more than 2.50 



inches (63.5 mm.) from tip of bill. Trumpeter Swan 253 



2'. Smaller; a yellow spot (in adult) on side of bill in front of eye; 

 hind margin of nostril less than 2.35 inches (59.7 mm.) from tip 

 of bill (fig. 40). Whistling Swan 256 



1'. Plumage never entirely white; neck shorter than body; area between 

 bill and eye always feathered. 

 3. Bill at least three times as loiig as height at base; no cross-ridges 

 on sides of lower mandible, but "teeth" present (fig. 5). 

 4. "Teeth" on bill conspicuous, sharp, and inclined backward at 

 tips; wing more than 8.00 inches (203 mm.) long; head crest 

 various, but never with white. 



