CHAPTER 11. 



WATER BIRDS, BY DR. G. SUCKLEY, U. S. A. 



ORDER V. GRALLATOllljb. WadingBiids. 



Family GRUIDAE.— The Cranes. 

 GRUS CANADENSIS, (Linn.) Temm. 



Saud-hlll Crane ; Bro-fVik Crane. 



Ardea canadmsu, Linn, Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 234, No 3.— Gmelin, I, 1788, 620 — Fokster, Phil. Trans, LXII, 1772, 



382, No. 36. Severn river. 

 Grta canadensis, "Temminck." Sw. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831,273.— Ndttall, Man. II, 1834, 38.— Bon. Conep. II, 1855, 



98.— Glndlach, Cab. Jour. IV, 185C, 339.— Baird, Gen. Eep. Birds, 1858, 655. 

 Gnis prakmis, Bartram, Travels in Florida, 1791. 

 Grus americana, Add. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 441 ; pi. 261. — Ib. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 188; pi. 314. (Supposed young.) 



Sp. Ch — Bill compressed. Lower mandible not as deep towards the tip as the upper. Gonys nearly straight ; in the same 

 line with the basal portion of bill. Commissure decidedly curving from beyond the middle to the tip, where it is even, not 

 crenated. Color bluish gray ; the primaries and spurious quills dark plumbeous brown; the shafts white. Cheeks and chin 

 whitish. Entire top of head (bounded inferiorly by a line from commissure along the lower eyelid) bare of feathers, warty and 

 granulated, thinly beset with short scattered black hairs. Feathers of occiput advancing forward in an obtuse angle ; the gray 

 feathers along this point, and over the auricular region, tinged with plumbeous. Length, 48 ; wing, 22 ; tarsus, 10 ; commissure, 6. 



Hah. — Whole of western region of United States. Florida. 



Sand-hill cranes are very abundant on the Nisqually plains, Puget Sound, in autumn. They 

 there commence to arrive from their summer breeding grounds about the last week in Septem- 

 ber, from which time imtil about the 10th of November, they are quite plentiful. After this 

 they disappear: probably retiring to warmer latitudes during the cold months. In the fall 

 they are found on all the prairies near Fort Steilacoom, but are not indifferent to choice of 

 certain spots by preference. These are generally old "stubble fields," or spots of ground that 

 have formerly been ploughed. They rise heavily and slowly from the ground upon being 

 disturbed, and flying in circles at length acquire the desired elevation. When proceeding from 

 one favorite resort to another, or when migrating, their flight is high, and not unfrequently 

 their approach is heralded before they are in sight by their incessant whooping clamor. While 

 feeding they are generally silent. The flesh of this species is excellent for the table, and as 

 Mr. Nuttall observes, much resembling that of the swan in flavor. A young bird, probably of 

 this species, was brought to me in Minnesota as early as June 15. In the vicinity of Fort 

 Steilacoom only stragglers remain to breed. During their migrations they fly in companies of 

 from three to four individuals to several dozens. I have rarely seen them in greater numbers 

 together; company after company succeeding each other, but rarely intermingling — keeping up 

 as it were, a distinct family organization. — S. 



The brown crane is a common summer resident, arriving at the Straits of De Fuca in laro'e 



