NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 237 



Food. — Doctor Grinnell (1900), referring to the food of this crane 

 in the Kotzebue Sound region, says: 



Its food consisted largely of berries and grass, while a few insects and, I have 

 reason to believe, mice, also entered into its diet. We found the cranes usually 

 fat, and they proved very fine eating, in fact we esteemed crane above every 

 other game except ptarmigan. 



Doctor Nelson (1887) included berries, lemming, and mice. Mr. 

 Brandt says that "they feed usually out on the drier parts of the 

 marshes and the tundra, though I have often seen them grazing high 

 up on the mountain sides more than 1,000 feet above their home in the 

 valley." Dr. A. K. Fisher (1893) found in the stomach of one killed 

 in Nevada "small bulbous rootlets, foliage of young plants, and a 

 quantity of barley, which it had picked up from the place where the 

 horses had been fed." Messrs. Grinnell, Bryant, and Storer (1918) 

 write, regarding its food in California: 



When feeding on the plains or in stubble fields these birds dig up the ground 

 with their bills in such a way that it looks as though a pick had been used. In 

 the tule country near Stockton, Belding states that they used to feed extensively 

 on sagittaria bulbs. In the Imperial Valley, Van Rossem observed cranes visiting 

 the grain fields to forage, going and coming from Salton Sea morning and even- 

 ing and as regularly as though timed by a clock. In 1901 it was reported that 

 cranes were so numerous in the wheat fields west of Tulare that they had to be 

 scared away. The birds were seeking the newly sprouted grain, but no detailed 

 account of the kind or amount of damage has been obtained. 



Behavior. — In flight and in general behavior the little brown crane 

 is much like its larger relative, the sandhill crane and can not be readily 

 distinguished from it in the field. It flies with the neck and legs 

 outstretched to full length and, when migrating, it flies at a great 

 height. It is said to bear some resemblance to a turkey when walk- 

 ing about on the ground and feeding. Its loud and sonorous notes 

 are described by Doctor Nelson (1887) as "hard, rolling K-r-roo, 

 Er-r-r-roo, Ku-kr-r-roo.^^ It is said to be a very shy bird and very 

 difficult to approach, but Doctor Nelson (1883) writes: 



They arc not very shy, and I have frequently approached them within gunshot 

 by merely appearing not to notice them but continuing in a narrowing circuit 

 to walk round their position until within 60 or 75 yards; the bird continued to 

 stare stupidly at me and uttering its long note and appearing as if doubtful 

 whether it was worth while to take wing or not, until its thoughts were acceler- 

 ated by a shot. They are extremely curious at this season, and I have frequen- 

 tly decoyed them within gunshot by lying upon the ground and waving a hand 

 or some conspicuous article in the air. As the birds approach from a distance 

 they will almost invariably turn and try to investigate the matter before passing 

 on their way. In many cases they only make a slight detour from their course 

 and pass on, but I have frequently had six or eight of the birds circling about 

 until some would approach within 35 or 40 yards, offering an easy prize. 



Mr. Hersey had a chance to see an exibition of its curiosity, which 

 he describes in his notes as follows: 



