CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. I47 



111 The Auk for January, 1893, Mr. Seton speaks of a specimen of 

 this bird being killed on the Qu'Appelle river. On September i6th, 

 1 88 1 , the writer shot a specimen near Fort Pelly which was certainly 

 the little brown crane as it was much smaller than the one taken 

 on the prairie in 1872. More light is needed on the distribution of 

 the two species named sandhill cranes by the people generally. 

 Either this species or the next is scattered over the country from 

 the 49th parallel to the Arctic ocean and is especially abundant in 

 Alaska and British Columbia. 



Breeding Notes. — As a rule this species is not seen on the lower 

 Yukon until about May yth or later, when the ground is half bare 

 and the cranes can search every hillside for last year's heath-berries, 

 which, with an occasional lemming or mouse, constitute their food 

 at this season. The site for the nest is usually on grassy flats, 

 where the drier portions or the slight knolls afford them suitable 

 places. The spot usually has an unobstructed view on all sides, 

 and it is common to see the female's long neck raised suspiciously 

 at the appearance in the distance of anything unusual. 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 some distance; this is 

 unusual, however. The two eggs which this bird always lays, are 

 generally deposited during the last few daj's of May or early June. 

 (Nelson.) 



206. Sandhill Crane. 



Grus mexicana (Mull.) Vieill. 181 7. 



A pair was taken many years ago at Toronto, Ont. Mr. Taverner 

 reports one taken at Beaumaris, Muskoka, several years ago. (J. 

 H. Fleming.) Occasional reports of this species in southwestern 

 Ontario still come in but it may safely be said to be a very rare 

 migrant. (W. Saunders.) Tolerably common at Aweme, Man., 

 breeding in small bogs and marshes. Arrives about April ist, and 

 departs in October. (Criddle.) Saw thirty-five at Douglas, B.C. 

 flying northward April 28th, 1906; one at Elko, B.C. in 1904, and a 

 few seen all through April, 1903, at Penticton, B.C. (Spread- 

 borough.) 

 io>4 



