10 BULLETIN 5 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Adult m^h.—Wing 650-630 (601.7) : tail 205-245 (223.8) ; exposed 

 culmen 129-147 (138.5) ; tarsus 265-301 (276.5) ; middle toe without 

 claw 98-118 (105.2 mm). 8 



Adult female.— Wing 583-610 (one 535), (597.9); tail 194-238 

 (217.3) ; exposed culmen 132-148 (one 117), (136.7) ; tarsus 260-295 

 (281.4) ; middle toe without claw 101-114 (107.3) mm.^ 



Range. — Interior of North America, west to the Kocky Mountains, 

 north across the plains of Saskatchewan to southern Mackenzie, south 

 to the southern portion of the Mexican plateau (Jalisco) and south- 

 eastward along the Gulf coast to Florida, Formerly occasional along 

 the Atlantic coast of the United States; breeds from central Illinois, 

 Iowa, etOi, northward. 



The range of the whooping crane is now only a small fraction 

 of the original distribution as the species is on the verge of extinction 

 and probably breeds only locally in south-central Canada. The 

 accounts given below are for the original distribution of the species. 



Breeds from Mackenzie (Fort Simpson; Fort Resolution; Fort 

 Anderson); Alberta (Fort Chippewyan; Whitford Lake, Stony 

 Plain); Saskatchewan (Dundern) ; Manitoba (Moose Mountain: 

 Shoal Lake; Winnipeg; Fort Churchill) ; North Dakota (Larimore; 

 Pembina County; Bismarck; Lake Benton) ; Minnesota (Elbow Lake, 

 Grant County) ; and Iowa (Hancock County; Eagle Lake; Dubuque: 

 Midway; Spirit Lake) south to eastern Alberta (Whitford Lake): 

 eastern Montana? (no definite breeding records); Nebraska (Word 

 Lake?) and Iowa (Black Hawk County; near Hayfield, Hancock 

 County; Franklin County; Dubuque; Spirit Lake; Baxter; Winne- 

 bago County; Crystal Lake). 



Winters on the Gulf coast of the LTnited States and central ]\Iexico 

 from Georgia; Florida (Hastings; Lee County; Kissimmee River; 

 Lake Okeechobee; Fort Myers); Alabama (Dauphin Island; Pratt- 

 ville; Cypress Slough; Millwood); Louisiana (Avery Island; Ver- 

 milion Bay; Pecan Island; Chenier au Tigre) ; and Texas (San 

 Antonio ; Corpus Christi ; Padre Island ; Brownsville ; Brazos River ; 

 Galveston Island; Houston; Concho County) to Mexico (Tamauli- 

 pas — Matamoras; Jalisco — Hacienda El Morino, and Guadalajaro 

 and La Barca; Guanajuato — Silao). 



In migration occurs east to Ontario (Yarker; Emsdale) ; New 

 York (Cayuga Lake), New Jersey (Beesleys Point; Cape May); 

 Pennsylvania (Philadelphia; Chester County); South Carolina 

 (Waccamaw River) ; and Georgia (St. Simon Island) ; and west 

 occasionally to Oregon (Washington County) ; California (Butte and 



8 Fifteen specimens from Canada, Minnesota, Kansas, Illinois. South Dakota, 

 and Texas. Wings measured (chord) to tip of longest primary (not tertial). 

 'Seven specimens from Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Texas. 



