244 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



F. M. Phelps (1914) writes that the sandhill orane is still rated as 

 a common bird in Lee County, Florida, and observes that: 



The nesting of this bird is very uncertain. It may begin in late February or 

 it may be deferred to April or May. Mr. Green told me of finding a nest early 

 in June, 1912, with fresh eggs. I am inclined to think the amount of water in 

 the nesting ponds is an important factor. The bird seems to require that its 

 nesting site be surrounded by water. Twice after heavy rains I found them 

 scratching up nests in grassy ponds which they abandoned without using when 

 the ponds began to dry up. Three occupied nests were found, on April 4 and 8, 

 with eggs far advanced in incubation, and on April 12 with fresh eggs. In 

 this latter case the birds had scratched up no less than four nests in a small flag 

 pond I could throw a stone across. Why the extra nests, two of which were 

 only about half complete, is a question. 



S. F. Rathbun writes to me: 



On June 12, 1889, I was working over a very large marsh situated about 8 

 miles southeast of Eden, Manitoba. This marsh was a famous breeding place 

 for many of the ducks and other water birds. As we were wading waist deep in 

 the water some distance from the edge of the marsh, a sandhill crane arose some 

 ways off and keeping our eyes fixed on the spot which was soon reached, after a 

 short search the bird's nest was found. This was made of a very large mass of 

 dead rushes placed on a somewhat elevated spot in an open space of the marsh, 

 and far away from the dry land. The nest was lined with smaller strips of the 

 dead rushes and contained one egg. This I left but on again visiting the spot a 

 few days later, found it had disappeared. This nest was about 4 feet across its 

 base and had a height of at least 2 feet. It was very substantial, as on my 

 second visit to it I found that it would nearly sustain my weight. In 1889 the 

 section in which the marsh was located was virgin country, there being hardly 

 a dozen settlers in an area of several hundred square miles. 



Dr. A. G. Prill (1922) has studied the nesting habits of this crane 

 in Oregon and writes: 



The region covered in my investigation, covered an area of 36 miles long by 

 from 5 to ten miles wide, or about 180 square miles. Ten pairs of sandhill cranes 

 were nesting in this territory, which would mean about one pair of birds to every 

 18 square miles of territory, Warner Valley has some half dozen lakes, sur- 

 rounded by tules and flags, and wild meadow lands, all of which is covered with 

 water, but here and there small islands were found, which were always above 

 high water. The places selected for the nest of this crane were generally several 

 miles out in the marshes, and the nests located were all on the tops of large 

 masses of dried ttiles and flags, and grass, which had undoubtedly been piled up 

 in this manner the year previous in harvesting the hay crop. These masses 

 were generally 5 feet in diameter and at least 12 inches above high water mark, 

 and in the center a slight depression is made upon which the two eggs or young 

 are found. 



A Colorado nest is described by Edward R. Warren (1904) as 

 follows : 



In the western part of Gunnison County, Colo., between the slope of Ragged 

 Mountain and Muddy Creek, is a high, rolling plateau, of an elevation of 8,000 

 feet or more. In amongst the hollows of this plateau are many little lakes or 

 ponds, varying in size from 50 to 60 feet in diameter to 100 yards or more. 

 During the past three seasons I have been about this country very much, survey- 



