34 



WADING BIRDS. 



continents. The sexes are scarcely distinguishable from each other 

 in their plumage ; but the young differ much from the old until 

 the third year. The remarkable compass of their sonorous voice is 

 attributed to the peculiar formation of the windpipe, which enters 

 the keel of the sternum or breast-bone into a cavity for its reception, 

 from whence it returns after being twice reflected. 



WHOOPING CRANE. 



(Grus americana, Temm. Bonap. Ardea americana. Wilson, 

 viii. p. 20, pi. G4, fig. 3. [adult male.] Buff. PI. Enlum. 889. 

 Phil. Museum, No. 3704.) 



Sp. Charact. — White; primaries black, and with black shafts; 

 the whole crown and cheeks bald. — The young, tawny. 



This stately Crane, the largest of all the feathered tribes 



