The snowy heron, or white crane as it is commonly called (Ardea candidissima), is another handsome wader that lends a charm to the lakes, ponds and streams from Oregon south through Mexico. Built on the same graceful lines as its blue relative, and with a plumage as white as the purest snow, it never fails to attract attention.
Three representatives of the family Ibididæ are found here and present a pleasing and interesting group.
The white-faced glossy ibis (Plegadis guarauna) ranges over the larger portion of the Coast, but from Lower California north only for breeding purposes. Its long curved bill, slim, gracefully bent neck, shapely body, tall legs and irridescent reflections of its plumage in the sunlight, place it among the most attractive of North American birds. Unlike the herons they are gregarious and are, therefore, seen in flocks of varying size. The glossy ibis is often called bronze curlew, but this is a bad misnomer, as they are in no way related to the curlew.
Another of the family is the white ibis (Guara alba). These are quite common in Lower California and Mexico. They rarely migrate into California, though they venture much to the north of us in a northeastern direction, reaching the shores of the Great Salt Lake, during the breeding season. The scarlet ibis (Guara rubra), the other member of the family, is confined to Mexico, so far as these articles are concerned.
The American egret (Ardea egretta) ranges from Oregon south to South America. It was at one time quite plentiful in California, but its handsome plumes attracted the eye of the milliner, which in turn aroused the cupidity of the market hunter, and these beautiful birds are now rare north of Lower California and Mexico, and are rapidly decreasing even there. The reddish egret (Ardea rufescens) is an inhabitant of Lower California and Mexico, not coming north of these places. Though not as handsome as the white egret, it is also being exterminated for the same purposes.
The birds that I have so far mentioned, while not game birds, are so constantly before the eyes of the sportsmen who engage in waterfowl shooting that they can not help but be interested in them. They add a variety and a beauty to the scene, and many an hour's wait, that otherwise would have been tedious, has passed away pleasantly in watching the graceful movements of some one or more of these stately waders.
THE CRANES, RAILS, GALLINULES
To the order, Paludicolae, belong the cranes, rails, gallinules and coots, or mudhens, as they are commonly called. Of the members of this order we are concerned only with the cranes, rails and coots. The sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) is a common visitor to all parts of the Coast, but more plentiful in the interior valleys than near the seashore. They are generally hard to approach and for that reason they are but little hunted by our sportsmen. The whooping crane (Grus americana) once common throughout the middle states, is still met with to considerable extent in Mexico, but it is by no means a common visitor.
The California clapper rail, known also as the San Mateo rail (Rallus obsoletus), is the largest as well as the most important of the rail family in this section. At one time the clapper rail was very plentiful in certain localities in California and furnished abundant sport, though rather of a tame nature, to those who hunted them. Being an easy bird to kill and unsuspicious, they have been rapidly reduced in numbers until now they are in danger of extinction unless laws are enacted giving them better protection. The clapper is only a straggler south of San Francisco bay.
The Virginia rail (Rallus virginianus), a species not more than half the size of the clapper rail, is found sparingly over the Coast, but principally on the fresh water marshes.