86 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



white whooping cranes that had happened to be with the 

 sandhills, and of course as I did not shoot any of them I 

 can not prove that this is not true ; but I saw at least one 

 of them arrive from the North with a flock of sandhills 

 and he flew in his regular place the same as any other 

 member of the flock. I had a good pair of field-glasses 

 with me and so was enabled to see these birds very clearly, 

 and was thoroughly convinced in my own mind that they 

 were white sandhill cranes. This would be nothing un- 

 usual among birds, for white robins, white grackles, or 

 even white crows are occasionally seen in this country. In 

 fact, there was a white robin that lived for three or four 

 years in Montclair, New Jersey, a residence suburb of 

 New York City. This bird finally was found dead one 

 morning in the yard of a friend of mine who told me of 

 the incident and of the interest the bird had excited in the 

 community. Even white crows are sometimes seen, and 

 there is no reason why sandhill cranes may not occasionally 

 be white. I am aware that no albino sandhill cranes have 

 ever been reported by an ornithologist, but my father, who 

 was a keen observer of birds, and knew well the whooping 

 crane, our large white crane, says he has seen several white 

 sandhill cranes in the pioneer days when the cranes came 

 into our neighborhood in countless thousands. 



Within the last ten or fifteen years most of the breed- 

 ing grounds of the sandhill cranes have been settled, and 

 the same is true of their winter quarters. For this reason 

 these cranes have become almost extinct. Dr. Harry C. 

 Oberholser, bird expert of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, tells me that there are probably only a few 

 left, except in Florida. There is a little brown crane, how- 

 ever, that is very similar to the sandhill, so similar in fact. 



