208 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



while at the same time keeping G. canadensis specifically distinct, 

 may seem an inconsistent course to pursue; nevertheless, in the writer's 

 judgment it more nearly expresses the facts of the case than to recog- 

 nize it as a full species or (to go to the other extreme) to sink it as a 

 synonym of G. mexicana. Indeed, Messrs. Bangs and Zappey seem 

 to have been kept from following the arrangement here adopted 

 merely by the consideration that the name mexicana has probably 

 been improperly applied, a question on which I can at present 

 express no opinion. 



It may be added that future research may show that the bird of 

 Cuba is not the same as that of the Isle of Pines. The measurements 

 of the single Cuban example above given are those of an individual 

 which died in captivity. 



While the Cuban Sandhill Crane can by no means be considered a 

 common species in the Isle of Pines, it nevertheless is a well-known and 

 generally distributed bird. It has repeatedly been observed in the 

 northern portion of the island by Mr. Read and Mr. Link, and by the 

 latter at Pasadita also, where Mr. Zappey took one of his specimens. 

 Three fine specimens were secured by Mr. Link at Los Indios. The 

 two shot October 24 were taken by the ingenious device of dressing 

 in green clothing and cautiously creeping towards the birds on hands 

 and knees, their attention being distracted meanwhile by the manceu- 

 vers of another party at a distance, in the opposite direction. Fre- 

 quenting the more open situations, as they invariably do, and being 

 such wild and wary birds, it is seldom that they can be approached 

 within gunshot, except by some such subterfuge as that just de- 

 scribed. Their flesh is esteemed as food by the inhabitants, and they 

 are shot for this purpose at every possible chance, but in spite of this 

 persecution they have succeeded in holding their own fairly well. 

 Mr. Link estimates that he saw as many as twenty-five individuals 

 during his stay on the island. On one occasion a group of five were 

 seen together, but as a rule not more than two or three were observed 

 in company. In the latter case he believes that a pair with their 

 young were represented. The Crane lays two eggs, but it is seldom 

 that more than one young bird is raised, owing to the destruction caused 

 by the ants, which often kill the young first hatched, while the one 

 hatched later may escape. No nests were actually discovered, but 

 broken egg-shells were found, and on several occasions young birds 

 were seen in captivity, indicating that the eggs are laid early in May. 



