NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 227 



earth, then stretching them out behind him, he floats away as gracefully as a 

 racing yacht before a steady breeze. In fine, calm weather he delights to mount 

 up, in great undulating spirals, to the height of a mile or so, and talie a quiet 

 float, while he whoops at neighbors in the adjoining counties. After airing himself 

 to his heart's content, he descends, sometimes spirally as he arose, at other times 

 with great plunges and wild, reckless dives, until within about 50 feet of the earth 

 when he hangs himself upon the air with his long, spindling legs down, gently 

 settles and alights. 



Dwight W. Huntington (1903) refers to this interesting flight per- 

 formance as follows : 



I was once shooting mallard on the margin of a western lake, with an Army 

 officer. The daj^ was warm and bright, and, after a short morning flight, the 

 ducks ceased to move about, and we retired to a slight elevation, ate our luncheon, 

 and reclined in the grass to smoke our pipes and tell tales of shooting game of 

 all sorts. A large flock of white cranes arose from the marsh and flew directly 

 toward us, ascending, however, as they came, far beyond our range. When quite 

 overhead, in the azure sky, their white feathers gleaming in the sunlight, they 

 proceed to go through many graceful evolutions, flying about in a circle, forming 

 sides and crossing over and back and dancing in midair to their own loud music. 

 We were much entertained by their performance, and observed them until the 

 exhibition was ended and they continued their flight until quite out of sight. 



The whooping crane is a dangerous antagonist when wounded, 

 striking with great force and with unerring aim with its powerful 

 and sharp bill. Many stories have been told of men being severely 

 wounded by its savage thrusts. Picket (1883) says: 



At another time I crippled one of the large white species by breaking a wing. 

 As it was marching off rather rapidly, I sent a little rat terrier to bring it to bay. 

 No sooner did the dog come up with it than it turned about, and quick as light- 

 ning drove its long sharp bill clean through him killing him on the spot. 



Mr. Seton writes to me: 



An extraordinary tragedj' was much talked of in my earliest days in the North. 

 About 1879, there was a young Indian living near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. 

 In the spring, he went out shooting among the famous wild-fowl marshes of that 

 section. A white crane flew low within range and fell to a shot from his gun. 

 As it lay on the ground, wounded in both wing and leg, crippled and helpless, he 

 reached forward to seize it. But it drove its bill with all its force into his eye. 

 The brain was pierced and the young hunter fell on the body of his victim. 

 Here next day, at the end of a long and anxious search, the young wife found 

 them dead together and read the story of the tragedy. 



Doctor Coues (1874) once measured the windpipe of a whooping 

 crane and found it to be about 58 inches long, ''quite as long as the 

 bird itself"; about 28 inches of this is "coiled away in the breast 

 bone." This is the trumpet through which the bird produces the loud 

 sonorous notes for which it is named and which are said to be audible 

 at a distance of 3 miles Nuttall (1834) writes: 



At times they utter a loud, clear, and piercing cry that may be heard to a 

 very considerable distance, and which, being not unaptly compared to the whoop 

 or yell of the savages when rushing to battle, has conferred upon our bird his 

 jieculiar appellation. Early in February, Wilson met with several of these cranes 



