Annotated List of Sac County, Iowa \~)o 



by themselves, both in the spring and fall. Mr. Shelt Tiberghien 

 said that whooping or white cranes nested in northern Sac county 

 until about the year 1869, and that the whooping cranes deserted 

 this section as a breeding ground at the time that the railroad 

 went through Newell. Mr. Lee reported none seen since 1895. 

 My last record is March 24, 1904. Mr. Smith stated that he once 

 secured a specimen for mounting which a neighbor had shot, but 

 that it was temporarily left on a work bench, with its head hang- 

 ing over so that the hogs could reach it, and they considered it 

 good eating. 



Sandhill Crane {Grus 7?; ea^/cowt/ ). ^ Specimen in the Smith collec- 

 tion. Mr. Smith reported them very common. My father stated 

 that a pair were seen about the farm all summer in 1875. Mr. 

 Lee also reports them as common and breeding, two eggs being 

 laid, with the last nest found about the year 1875. He hatched out 

 two eggs from this nest under a goose, but could not raise the 

 young cranes. He stated that the sandhills nested in sloughs, 

 bviilding their own mound for the nest and not using muskrat 

 houses. Mr. Shelt Tiberghien reported them nesting also, with 

 the last nest in 1878. I have found sandhill cranes only tolerably 

 common to rare as migrants; also more common in spring than 

 in fall. I have eight spring migration dates in the twelve years 

 from 1904-1915, ranging from first seen on March 8th to April 10th, 

 with the average on April 5th. I have never seen them alight save 

 once, which was in a large pasture, in the fall. Their trumpeting 

 can be frequently heard on spring nights as they pass overhead, 

 although they also migrate by day. My father said that he once 

 saw a flock of sandhills " dancing." They flopped their wings, 

 kicked and hopped and circled about, but did not rise from the 

 ground during the dance. Mr. Timmerman of Wall lake stated 

 that when a boy in Franklin county he used to trap the sandhills 

 in steel traps set in oat. wheat, or corn fields, but unless promptly 

 secured the cranes would twist off their toes and escape. They 

 were considered good eating. 



King Rail (Rallus elegans). The king rail is a common breeder, 

 nesting wherever there are suitable marshes. It is especially com- 

 mon in the " Goosepond " some years. I have seen the young rails 

 there when they were about the size of young domestic chickens 

 a few days old, and they were dead black in color. I have also 

 seen the species about the inlet of Wall lake. 



Virginia Rail (Rallus virginianiis). Specimen in the Smith col- 

 lection. I have found the Virginia rail very rare. I saw one in 

 the " Goosepond " May 30, 1915, and one at Wall lake August 27, 

 1909. 



Sora Rail (Porzana Carolina). The sora rail is common in all 



