]38 WILD UI-K IN CHINA. 



name for this bird {& Abou-mengel, the "Father of the sickle.' 

 alluding to the shape of the beak, which recalls that of the 

 curlew. With their long legs, ibises can get over the ground 

 pretty quickly, making at times in their hurry quaint jumps 

 into the air. Once well on the wing they fly well. Their 

 height varies from about two feet to two feet six inches. 



The dark-coloured ibis, a sort of chocolate-brown, 

 sometimes called the Black Ibis, is also known in the Far 

 East, having the technical name of 1. falcinellus. It is 

 somewhat smaller than the last-mentioned, and there is more 

 variation in colour between the sexes, as also between 

 parents and young. The glossy ibis, as it is also called, has 

 an extremely wide range, being known from southern Europe 

 to southern Africa, from Africa to Australia, and from 

 Australia through India to China. 



I.Sincnsis, our very own ibis, is but a variety of /. Xififyon. 

 It lives and breeds in considerable numbers in some parts 

 of the northern provinces, coming south with the colder 

 weather. Pere David says there are always two young ones. 



Turning to the cranes, we find ourselves fifty per cent, 

 richer in species than was the case with the birds just 

 noticed. Only four species of the ibis are described to six. 

 of the crane. There is Grus leitcoger&nos, the white Siberian 

 crane, G. Virgo or Xuinidica. G. Ciuerea, the common grey 

 crane, G. inonachns, the white-headed crane, G. -r//>/o. and 

 G. viridirostris, the green-billed. Of all these, the only 

 specimens in the Shanghai Museum are the last-named, 

 and the white-headed, of which there are three. 



Grits leiicogcranos. the white crane, is a very fine bird. 

 With the exception of some of the primaries the whole 

 plumage is a pure snowy white, the long wing feathers being 

 ajet black, and so forming, when outspread, astrikingcontrast. 

 A tuft of delicate w r hite feathers hangs pendent from the breast. 

 The only colours visible are the red legs and the same tint 

 shown on the bare patches round the eyes. As the true 

 home of this magnificent bird is Siberia, though it is said to 

 migrate at times to India, \ve do not see them as a rule in 

 this neighbourhood, though they are known in the more 

 northern portions of the country. The male stands nearly 

 four feet in height. 



About the same height stands the green-billed crane of 

 which we have a specimen. He gets his name from the 

 verdant tinge seen in his mandibles, but his main plumage. 

 as in the Siberian bird, is white, though there is a greyish 

 ashen tinge on the neck, and the legs and feet are black. 



G. Virgo, the Demoiselle, or Numidian crane, is of darker 

 tint, and is remarkable over and above that for its more 

 graceful shape. It is, indeed, difficult to imagine greater purity 



