LITTLE BEOWN CBANE 273 



humming sound caused by the swift passage through the air of their stiffened 

 pinions. 



The food of this Ibis is composed of insects, worms, snails, 

 Crustacea, small fish, and frogs. Most of its food is apparently 

 obtained by probing in the mud. Belding (MS) states that the 

 stomach of a bird shot in some tules near Stockton March 18, 1886, 

 was full of fragments of an aquatic plant among which were the legs 

 of a beetle. 



The resemblance of this bird to a curlew has doubtless led people 

 to suppose it related to the shore-birds, and hence of desirable table 

 qualities. But judging from the food of the White-faced Glossy Ibis, 

 which appears to be of similar nature to that of the herons, one 

 would not expect to find the Ibis particularly palatable as an article 

 of food. Belding (MS) states that he never knew of anyone eating 

 Ibis in California excepting Chinese. Yet this species has been 

 marketed in the larger cities with apparent regularity for many years, 

 as witness Heermann's report of its being sold here during the fifties 

 (1859, p. 63). 



California is the only state in the Union that has ever ranked the 

 "White-faced Glossy Ibis as a game bird, and provided an open season 

 for it. In three states, Nevada, Kansas, and New Mexico, the bird is 

 unprotected, but iu all other states where it is found it is protected 

 by law the year round. The open season in California was from 

 October 15 to March 1 in the northern part of the state, and from 

 October 1 to March 1 in southern California. The bag limit was twenty 

 birds. Even with this open season there was little drain on the num- 

 bers, for, as a matter of fact, because of the marked migratory habit 

 of this species, but few are to be found as a rule within the state during 

 the open season. In 1915 ibis were removed from the list of game birds 

 and thereby came under the laws protecting non-game birds. Large 

 numbers of White-faced Glossy Ibis continue to nest in the larger 

 fresh-water marshes, and the greatest danger to the species lies in the 

 possible reclamation of these breeding grounds. 



Little Brown Crane 



Grus canadensis (Linnaeus) 



Other names — Sandhill Crane, part; Grus mexicana part. 



Description — Adults, ioth sexes : Large area on top of head to level of eyes, 

 and including space between bill and eye, bald, with but scattering black 

 "hairs" (hair-like feathers); the granulated skin of this area is "dull livid 

 red" in life (Nelson, 1887, p. 96), and the feathers on hind head extend 

 forward into it in the form of a wedge; bill black; iris "orange yellow" 

 (Nelson, loo. cit.) ; whole of plumage light leaden gray, except for primary 

 wing feathers which are brownish black with dull white shafts; gray clearest 



