226 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and the crown and malar regions arc becoming blacker. Unfortu- 

 nately we do not know the ages of these young birds. At the sea- 

 sonal molts of adults we can only guess, for lack of material. 



Food. — The whooping crane is not at all fastidious in its diet; it is 

 quite omnivorous and eats a great variety of both animal and vege- 

 table food. Audubon (1840) supposed that the sandhilll cranes were 

 the young of the whooping cranes, so some of his remarks may apply 

 to either species; but he says that — 



Both old and young may be seen digging through the mud before the rains 

 have begun to cover the shallow ponds with water, for during summer they 

 become almost dry. The birds work very assiduously with their bills, and suc- 

 ceed in uncovering the large roots of the great water lilly, which often run to a 

 depth of 2 or 3 feet. Several cranes are seen in the same hole, tugging at roots 

 and other substances, until they reach the object of their desire, which they 

 greedily devour. 



His plate illustrates a whooping crane killing young alligators. 

 Nuttall (1834) writes: 



In the winter season, dispersed from their native haunts in quest of subsist- 

 ence, they are often seen prowling in the low grounds and rice fields of the 

 Southern States in quest of insects, grain, and reptiles; they swallow also mice, 

 moles, rats, and frogs with great avidity, and may therefore be looked upon at 

 least as very useful scavengers. They are also at times killed as game, their flesh 

 being well flavored, as they do not subsist so much upon fish as many other 

 birds of this family. 



In the fall whooping cranes resort to the grain fields and feed 

 among the stubble, with the sandhill cranes, on various kinds of 

 grains. They are also said to eat vegetables, plants, bulbous roots, 

 snakes, frogs, mice, tadpoles, snails, slugs, worms, grasshoppers, and 

 sometimes a few fish. 



Behavior. ~Qo\. N. S. Goss (1891) says: 



These birds are very wary and ever upon the lookout, rising over everj' sus- 

 picious spot when on the wing, and when on the ground spring into the air at the 

 first sight or appearance of danger, with a warning note to others. In flight, 

 their long necks and stiltlike legs are stretched out in line with the body to their 

 full extent, moving strongly, with slowly beating wings, but not swiftly; I say 

 strongly because they they are able to face a strong wind, and to sustain them- 

 selves for a long time in the air, often circling spirallike to a great height. They 

 occasionally bunch up, and I have seen them in a triangular form, but, as a rule, 

 they travel in single file, following their leader in a wavy line, croaking as they go, 

 like hounds upon a cold trail. 



A writer in Forest and Stream over the pseudonym, Picket (1883) , 

 writes as follows: 



The whooping crane is, to say the least, a fantastic fowl. When marching 

 about on terra firma he appears awkward to the last degree. Judging from the 

 length of his stiltliice legs, one would suppose he was made to run rather than fly; 

 but in spite of his clipper build and striding abilities, he is only a moderate pacer. 

 His manner of taking flight is peculiar. Spreading his wings and stooping down, 

 he apparently runs up an inclined plane of air until his feet no longer touch the 



