GRUIDiE — THE CRANES — GRUS. 407 



inches long in the stomach of one of this species. He describes the cries uttered by 

 this bird as loud and piercing — so loud that they might be heard at the distance of 

 three miles. The flesh of the young bird he speaks of as being tender and juicy, 

 while in the old birds it becomes very dark and tough, and is unlit for the table. In 

 captivity this Crane is extremely gentle, and will Iced freely on grain and other 

 vegetable substances. 



Mr. Audubon kept one, while he was in Boston, whicli had been taken, Avhile 

 young, on the Florida coast, a wing having been fractured and afterward ampu- 

 tated. This bird was very gentle, and would suft'er him to caress it with the hand. 

 It searched the Avood-pile for worms and grubs, watched with tlu; patience of a cat 

 for mice, and would swallow them whole. It also fed on corn and garbage from the 

 kitchen. At times it would look upward, and, as if calling to some acquaintance 

 passing high in the air, would cry aloud. It was naturally suspicious of some lurk- 

 ing danger; and sometimes, on very slight occasion, would manifest a sudden and 

 causeless alarm, as if some dreaded enemy were at hand. 



This bird has never been detected on the Pacific coast, or west of the Great Plains ; 

 and as G. canadensis mexicana is common there, this of itself is sufficient evidence 

 of the difference of the two species. Mr. Kennicott met with it at Fort Resolution, 

 May 20, and procured a specimen. A nest of this species, containing two eggs, was 

 found near Salt Eiver, not far from Fort Eesoliition, Great Slave Lake, in 1864. 

 The eggs (Smithsonian Institution, No. 9288) measure, one 3.80 inches by 2.60, the 

 other 3.70 inches by 2.50. Their ground-color is a deep grayish white, with a wash- 

 ing of sepia, marked sparsely, except at the larger end, with bold patches of dark 

 rusty sepia-brown, and more obscure blotches of an opaque sepia. These last are 

 thinly scattered over nearly the whole ^g^. At the extreme portion of the obtuse 

 end these markings are far more numerous, become confluent, and form an irregular 

 crown. The eggs are oval in shape, and a little more rounded at one end than at 

 the other. 



Grus canadensis. 



a. canadensis. THE LITTLE BROWN CRANE. 



Ardea canadensis, Linn. ed. 10, I. 1758, 141 ; ed. 12, 1766, 234 (based on Edwards, I. 33 ; Briss. 



V. 385). — FoRST. Philos. Jour. LXII. 1772, 409 (Severn R.). 

 Grus canadensis, Temm. Man. I. 1820, p. c— Sabine, Franklin's Jour. 685. — Richards, Parry's 



Second Voy. 353. — S\v. & Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 373. — Bonap. Consp. I. 1850, 98. — Scl. 



Ibis, 1860, 418 (Hudson's Bay). — Blakist. Ibis, 1863,128 (int. Brit. Am.). — Dali. k Bannist. 



Trans. Chicago Acad. I. 1869, 289 (St. Michael'!;, Alaska). — Tacz. J. f. 0. 1873, 112 (X. E. 



Siberia). — C'ouEs, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 669. 

 Grusfusca (part), Vieill. Nouv. Diet. XIII. 1817, 558 (includes both forms). 

 Gms poliophcea, Wagl. Syst. Av. 1827, Grus, sp. 7 (based on Edwards). 

 Grus fmterculus, Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 656 (=jnv. ; New Mexico !). — Baird, Cat. N. 



Am. B. 1859, no. 480. — Allen, Bull. N. O. C, V. 1880, 123. — Ridgw. ib. 187 ; Nom. N. Am. 



B. 1881, no. 584. 

 Grus fratercula, Tacz. Bull. See. Zool. France, 1876, 246. 

 Bhte Crane, Foi;sr. 1. c 



Brown Crane, Penn. Arct. Zool. II. 1785, 443. —Lath. Syuop. III. 1785, 43. 

 Little Brown Crane, Ridgw. 1. c. 

 Northern Sandhill Crane, Coues, 1. c. 



/3. mexicana. THE SANDHILL CRANE. 



Ardea (grus) mexicana, Muller, S. N. Suppl. 1776, 110 (ex Briss. V. 380). 



Ardea canadensis, var. ^, Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 1790, 676 (Mexico). 



Grus 2}raten.^is, Bartr. Travels, 1791, 144, 218 (descr.). — Coues, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 670. 



