In Forth-West Canada. 167 



means of a canoe. The little brown crane inhabits the country 

 stretching from Lake Winnipeg north-west to Alaska. It is 

 common at the mouth of the Yukon. Eggs were obtained by 

 Mr. Dall, in the Yukon River, on June I7th. Here they are 

 laid in depressions of the sandy beach, without any attempt 

 at a nest. This species is not known to breed in the United 

 States, but a few pairs may nest in Northern Dakota, near 

 the Canadian boundary. Before me are five clutches of two 

 eggs each, of the little brown crane, all from Manitoba. They 

 resemble eggs of the whooping and sandhill cranes in colour, 

 but are so much smaller that it is impossible to confound them 

 with the other two larger species. The following is a descrip- 

 tion of these live clutches : 



Set I. Two effffs taken at Crescent Lake, Assiniboia, May 

 16th, 1890 ; ground colour, light brownish drab, mottled and 

 blotched with pale reddish brown and greyish purple. The 

 blotches are very heavy at the larger ends ; size 3.56x2.28 and 

 3.59x2.30. The nest was composed of reeds, built on a sandy 

 knoll in the marsh. 



Set II. Two eggs, taken at Crescent Lake, Assiniboia, May 

 20th, 1890: ground colour, ashy yellow, blotched with pale 

 chocolate brown and purple grey ; size 3.60x2.30 and 3.64x 

 2.32. Nest made of rushes on a sandy knoll in the marsh. 



Set III. Two eggs, taken at Big Grass Marsh, Manitoba, 

 May 29th, 1890; ground colour, light ashy yellow, with a 

 buffy tinge, blotched with sienna brown, and darker choco- 

 late spots at the larger ends; size 3.62x2.25 and 3.53x2.27. 

 Nest, a large structure of rushes, built amongst growing rushes 

 in the marsh. 



Set IV. Two eggs. Big Grass Marsh, Manitoba, June 2nd, 

 1891 ; ground colour, olive drab, spotted and blotched witli 

 yellowish brown and purple brown, with under shell markings 

 of purplish grey, the markings having a tendency to form a 

 zone around the larger ends of the eggs ; size 3.47x2.09 and 

 3.38x2.18. Nest, a large structure of rushes and aquatic 

 plants, built amongst the growing rushes. 



Set V. Two eggs. Long Lake, Manitoba, June 18th, 1891 ; 

 ground colour, yellowish drab, mottled and blotched with red- 



