SPECIES EXTINCT OR EXTIRPATED. 485 



that in his youth hundreds of Cranes came to that region 

 during the spring, while "now" (1748) " they are very few." ^ 

 Again he says (1749) : " cranes (Ardea canadensis) were some- 

 times seen flying in the day-time, to the northward. They 

 commonly stop here early in spring, for a short time, but they 

 do not make their nests here, for they proceed on more to the 

 north. Certain old Swedes told me, that in their younger 

 years, as the country was not yet much cultivated, an incred- 

 ible number of cranes were here every spring, but at present 

 they are not so numerous." ^ The time to which he refers 

 when the Cranes were found in incredible numbers must have 

 been in the latter half of the seventeenth century, soon after 

 the settlement of the country. 



C. Lowell, writing of the birds of Lancaster, N. H. (1814), 

 mentions the Crane {Ardea canadensis), which was the name 

 then given to this species, among the birds found in the town 

 at that time. As he also lists Herons, it is quite probable 

 that his statement is based on fact.^ 



The most recent record of the occurrence of this bird in 

 New England is at Lovell's Pond, Wakefield, N. H., where, 

 according to Brewster, a specimen was obtained in 1896 or 

 1897, and is now preserved in the State Agricultural College 

 collection at Durham.^ 



I well remember when, in my boyhood, on an expedition 

 to Florida, I first heard the raucous, resounding note of the 

 Sandhill Crane. It filled the spaces of the piney woods with 

 its hollow reverberations as the great birds sprang up beyond 

 gunshot and flapped slowly away. This species ordinarily 

 flies low, but in the west in the nesting season they may be 

 seen flying and sailing in wide circles high in the air, until lost 

 to view, where, even at that great height, their powerful, pene- 

 trating cries still fall clear, but mellowed by distance, to the 

 listening ear. 



In the mating season these birds assemble in some open 

 spot, where they hold their dances and indulge in various 



» Kalm, Peter: Travels in North America, 1770, Vol. I, p. 290. 



« Ibid., Vol. II. p. 72. 



' Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, Vol. Ill, 2d ser., p. 101. 



* Allen, Glover M.: List of the Birds of New Hampshire, 1903, pp. 82, 83. 



