BIRDS. 95 



Ou May IS, I lay in a liiuitiiig bliud, and was much amused by the peiformaiices of two 

 cranes, which alighted near by. The first comer remained alone but a short time, when a second 

 bird came along, uttering his loud note at short intervals, until he espied the bird on the ground, 

 when he made a slight circuit, and dropped close by. Both birds then joined in a series of loud 

 rolling cries in quick succession. Suddenly the newcomer, which appeared to be a male, wheeled 

 his back toward the female and made a low bow, Lis head nearly touching the ground, and ending 

 by a quick leap into the air ; another pirouette brings him facing his charmer, whom he greets with 

 a still deeper bow, his wings meanwhile hanging loosely by his sides. She replies by an answer- 

 ing bow and hop, and then each tries to outdo the other in a series of spasmodic hops and starts, 

 mixed with a set of comically grave and ceremonious bows. The pair stood for some moments 

 bowing right and left, when their legs appeared' to become envious of the large share takeH in 

 the performance by the neck, and then would ensue a series of stilted hops and skips which are 

 more like the steps of a burlesque minuet than anything else I can think of. Frequently others 

 join and the dauce keeps up until all are exhausted. By the 2Gth to the 30th of May they are 

 mated, and are seen scattered all over the flats from Cape Vancouver north to Kotzebue Sound, 

 or, perhaps, farther along the Arctic coast. 



They are summer residents upon Saint Matthew's and Saint Lawrence Islands, and were found 

 nesting by Nordenskjold in considerable numbers at Seniavine Strait, just south of Bering Straits, 

 on the Siberian coast, July 2S, 1879. Eggs containing small embryos were brought me on Jlay 

 27, 1879, but the two eggs, which this bird always lays, are generally deposited the last few days 

 of May or first of June. The site for the nest is usually on the grassy flats, where the drier 

 portions or the slight knolls aftbrd them suitable places. The spot usually has an unob- 

 structed view on all sides, and it is common to see the female's long neck raised suspiciously at the 

 appearance Ta the distance of anything unusual. If one approaches, the head sinks lower and 

 lower to avoid- being seen, but if the person, even though 150 or 200 yards away, should stop and 

 look toward the bird, she will generally rise and skulk away, her neck close to the ground, wings 

 hanging loosely by the sides, and legs bent, so as to avoid being seen. When she is 100 yards or 

 more from the nest she straightens up and stalks anxiously about, uttering her loud call-note 

 incessautly, and is generally joined by the male; but it is rarely that either can, even then, be 

 approached within gunshot. lu one case the female was about 75 yards from the nest, and as we 

 drew near she staggered from side to side with trailing wings, looking as if in death agony. 



The nest is frequently a mere hollow in the ground, and is commonly lined with more or less 

 coarse grass-stems and straws. In one instance a nest was found on a bare flat, and was lined 

 with a layer of straws an inch deep, all of which must have been brought for some yards; this is 

 unusual, however. The eggs vary in ground-color from pale greenish clay color to bufiy brown 

 or warm brownish, and the entire surface is irregularly marked with spots and blotches of 

 chocolate-brown, rather sparsely distributed at the small end, but numerous about the large end 

 of the egg, chiefly at the very apex. The size varies from 3.70 by 2.40; 3.72 by 2.40; 3.71 by 2.41, 

 representing the maximum, to 3.26 by 2.28; 3.40 by 2.35, 3.33 by 2.21 representing the minimum 

 in a series of twenty-five specimens. 



The last of July, and during August, the cranes frequent the hill-sides, and feast upon the berries 

 growing there, and early in September the small flocks, which have been trooping about from 

 one feeding ground to another, join into larger companies, until toward the last of the month— from 

 the ISth to .30th— they pass to the south, making the air resonant with their guttural notes as they 

 file away toward the Yukon. The Eskimo say that once, very long ago, a pretty woman was 

 out picking berries, when a great flock of cranes gathered near, and circling about suddenly 

 closed about the unfortunate girl, and taking her upon their broad backs, soared away toward the 

 sky, where they vanished, drowning the girl's cries meanwhile by their own hoarse chorus. Since 

 then the girl has never been seen by man, but the cranes to this day retain their habit of making 

 a loud outcry, and soaring in flocks, in autumn, as a reminiscence of this abduction. 



On August 18, 1880, Dr. Bean saw cranes of this species crossing Bering Straits from the 

 Siberian to the Alaskan shore. 



