Sept., 1919 I?ROM I?I]?LD. AND'STUDY 213 sence of that bird from the bags of many hunters, not merely from that of one collector alone. With all the collecting that we have carried on in California, it was but recently that this Museum received its first specimen of the Sandhill Crane. Two cranes were sent in by Mr. A1. Chavis, one Sandhill and one Little Brown, both shot on the Hall Ranch, near Corcoran, Kings County, California, November 17, 1918: The birds were shipped in the. flesh, and prepared as study skins at the Museum. The Sandhill is an adult male, the Little Brown an immature male. That is, the latter still retains much oi the rusty, immature plumage, and has the top of the head leathered, though it is appar- ently fully developed as to weight and measurements. It was probably two days after the birds were killed that we received them, and the colors of eyes and of the naked skin on the head may have changed somewhat since death. These colors, however, are here noted as they appeared when the specimens ar- rived, comparison being made with Ridgway's "Color Standards and Color Nomencla- ture" (1912). Measurements are in millimeters. Stomach examinations were made by Dr. H. C. Bryant, of this Museum. Details of the two birds are as follows: Orus mexicana, male adult (Mus. Vert. Zool., no. 29547). Weight 11 lbs., 15 oz. ?no fat whatever upon the bird). Length (legs extended), tip of bill to tip of toes, 1552 mm.; length, tip of bill to tip of tail, 1170; spread wings, 2105; wing, 541; tail, 193, culmen, 151; tarsus, 239; middle toe and claw, 98. Number of rectrices, 12. Iris yel- low, close to salmon-orange; the eye was somewhat sunken and filmy when examined. Feet and claws, black; upper mandible, black; lower mandible, black basally and at tip, dirty grayish at middle. Naked skin on top of head close to pomegranate purple. The last mentioned area was of a particularly difficult color to match, as it was blot. chy and uneven, and the character of the skin made close comparison impossible. The best that could be done was to give the color as it appeared in general effect at a little distance, regardless of differences in detail caused by papillae, etc. Stomach contents: Vegetable matter, i00 per cent; about 325 kernels of wheat and 6 kernels of barley, together with some hulls. Much of the grain had sprouted, as though taken from a grain field where it was beginning to come up. Orus canaclensis, male immature (Mus. Vert. Zoel., no. 29548). Weight, 7 lbs., 11 oz. (bird very fat). Length (legs extended), tip of bill to tip of toes, 1270 mm.; length, tip of bill to tip of tail, 940; spread wings, 1780; wing, 455; tail, 150.5; culmen, 93; tarsus, 207; middle toe and claw, 89. Number of rectrices, 12. Iris dark; naked edge of eyelid, dirty whitish; feet and claws, black; bill blackish. Stomach contents: Vegetable matter 100 per cent; about 180 kernels of wheat, with an abundance of wheat hulls and bits of straw, as though gleaned from a stubble fleld.--H. S. SWARTH, Museu?Y? of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California, April 30, 1919. Sharp-shinned Hawks and Small Blrgs.--May I make a small correction in Mr. Law's account of the incident he relates on p. 27 of T? CONOOa for January-February, 19197 The hawks were Sharp-shinned not Cooper, the third female was a bird of the preceding year in the first plumage, and it, together with the male, was also 'shot, making a clean sweep of these pestiferous destroyers. At the risk of being quoted as an awful example by the ultra-protectionists of the. "balance of nature" school, I must repudiate any desire, whether prompted by curiosity or otherwise, of seeing an Accipiter raise a brood--I know too well at what a sacrifice of small bird life this result would be achieved.L-ALLaN BaooKs, Okayagan Landing, B.?., August 4, 1919. Notes from Inyo County, Callfornla.--Several weeks of the month of March, 1919, were passed by me ?t Lone Pine, Inyo County, California. Birds, while numerous as in- dividuals, were hardly so in species, and only the following seem worthy of note: Pipilo crissalis senicula. A pair was discovered in vine tangle bordering a boggy field one mile south of Lone Pine, March 22. The female of* this apparent pair was se- cured. Amphispiza nevac?ensis canescerts. Careful search of congenial locations for this species failed to disclose any individuals until March 21, when one was secured. After this date it was fairly common.
