GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEYS WEST OF I00TH MERIDIAN. 
323 
if the marsh be treacherous and oozy so much the better is it likely to prove for their 
special purposes as favoring complete isolation. While duck-shooting the report of 
my gun has frequently started up a dozen or more of these ibises, that sprung with 
hoarse croakings from little muddy pools and recesses almost within stone’s-throw, 
where, screened upon all sides, they had been quietly feeding without conveying a hint 
of their presence. 
Inherent in the nature of the ibis there is a certain wariness which to some extent 
makes amends for its natural stupidity. For, to few birds does the term stupid apply 
with more force thau to the present species. The very “make-up” of the bird is sug¬ 
gestive of a sluggish disposition, there being evident a certain nngainliness of form 
that it is impossible to associate with keen intellectual activity, and that is the very 
reverse of what is implied by the alert actions and elegant appearance of its allies, the 
herons. Doubtless the long, heavy bill and slender neck surmounting its thickset 
body contribute much to its uncouth appearance, and convey an impression which the 
really beautiful plumage serves only partially to dispel. However, the ibis may safely 
claim that, even if its appearance is not in all respects pleasing to the eye, its ensemble 
has at least the beauty of utility, and its stout legs and long toes and claws, its heavy, 
curved bill and long neck all serve most admirably the purpose inteuded, which is, after 
all, the chief consideration. 
Bj r the 20th of May the ibises all appeared to be paired about Washoe Lake, although 
neither then nor a week later was I able to find their nests. Perhaps this was a little 
early for the deposition of the eggs, although the oviduct of a female shot June 3 con¬ 
tained a perfect egg. 
ARDEIDiE—Herons. 
Ardea Linnams. 
A. herodias L. Great Blue Heron. 
A common summer inhabitant of this whole region. 
Herodias Boie. 
H. egretta (Gm.). Great White Egret. 
Colonies of this species reside in summer on many of the lakes which lie at the foot 
of the mountains in Eastern California and Western Nevada, while we learn from 
Captain Bendire of an extensive heronry as high to the north as Lake Malheur, 
Oregon. 
Warner Lake, just within the southern borders of that Territory, forms a favorite 
resort for several species of the heron family. The white egret unites with the others 
to form colonies that build their nests in the larger growth of willows along shore. 
Visiting such a heronry in September I found a dozen or more of the partially Hedged 
young swinging by the necks from the crooked branches where they had evidently 
fallen as they clambered about the nests, aud perishing miserably had hung till con¬ 
verted iuto mummies by the dry winds. 
Garzetta Kaup. 
G. candidissima (Jacquin.). Little White Egret. 
Observed at several localities in Nevada aud Eastern California where it is not so 
common as the preceding. 
Nyctiardea Swainson. 
X. grisea ncevia (Bodd.). Night Heron. 
Perhaps the most abundant of the family, and present in all the marshes. 
Botaurus Stephens! 
B. minor (Gm.). Bittern. 
A common summer visitant as far north as Southern Oregon, reaching perhaps into 
Washington Territory as it does to Puget Sound on the coast. (Cooper.) 
GRUHEE—Cranes. 
Grus Linmeus. 
G. canadensis (L.). Sandhill Crane. 
These large birds are numerous in so many portions of Nevada, California, and Ore 
gon that it is scarcely worth while to particularize localities. 
