Whooping Crane 91 



Whooping Crane. Grus americana. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 20-1— Colorado Records— Aiken 72, p. 209 ; 

 Morrison 89, p. ICG ; Cooke 97, pp. 18, 62 ; Felger 09, p. 286. 



Description. — Adult — Plumage pure white, except the primaries, 

 their coverts, and the alula, which are black ; iris yeUow ; bill dusky- 

 greenish ; bare skin of head which runs back to a point on the occiput, 

 and also on to the cheeks below the eyes, carmine ; legs black. Length 

 about 50 ; wing 24 ; tail 9-0 cuhnen 6 ; tarsus 12. 



A young bird has the head feathered and the plumage varied with 

 rusty-brown. 



Distribution. — Breeding chiefly from Iowa to Saskatchewan ; migrat- 

 ing south along the Mississippi Valley to Central Mexico. 



In Colorado the Whooping Crane was formerly, perhaps, more 

 common. Aiken, thirty- five years ago, noted it as " occasional on 

 migration," but it now seems to be very rare, and I only find two 

 definite records of its occurrence. W. G. Smith observed it at 

 Loveland, April 8th to 16th. There is a moulted specimen in the 

 Museum at Fort Collins, but it is not definitely stated by Cooke 

 where it was obtained. 



Little Brown Crane. Gi-us canadensis. 



A.O.U. CheckHst no 205— Colorado Records— Thorne 87, p. 264; 

 Cooke 94, p. 183 ; 97, pp. 62, 198. 



Description. — Resembling in every respect the SandhiU Crane 

 (G. mexicana) but considerably smaller. Length 36 ; wing 19-5 ; tail 

 7-75 ; cuhnen 4-40 ; tarsus 8-5. 



Distribution. — Breeding far north, from Alaska to Hudson Bay, 

 migrating south through Colorado to Texas and Mexico. 



Most of the Colorado references to this species reaUy belong to the 

 SandhiU, as the two birds have often been confused. The Little Brown 

 Crane, however, passes through Colorado on migration. It was taken 

 by Captain Thorne at Fort Lyon ; there is a mounted example in the 

 Museiun at Fort Collins and also one in the collection of Mr. A. T. Allen, 

 taken near Denver (Cooke), while Aiken tells me he had two brought 

 to him, March 27th and 28th, 1900, which had been killed close to 

 Colorado Springs. In the State Historical Society's collection at Denver 

 there is a male, killed at Hooper, Costilla co., March 27th, 1906, by 

 J. L. Wolfe, and a female from Magnolia, Arapahoe co., about fifteen 

 miles east of Denver, taken by H. Todenwarth. The stomach of the 

 former example contained " about half-a-pint of wheat." 



C. S. Thompson informs me of the capture of an example at Edwards, 

 Eagle CO., April 1st, 1903. This is apparently the first record for the 

 western slope. 



