ANDERSON — THE BIRDS OF IOWA. 203 



gist, ix, 8, 1894; Davies Nests and Eggs of N. A. Bds., 5th ed., 

 p. 120), having been told by a farmer's boy that a pair of White 

 Cranes were frequenting a large marsh. A number had been 

 seen in the locality early in the spring, but only one pair had 

 remained. As we came over a low ridge on one side of the marsh, 

 two great white birds rose up several hundred yards away, and 

 flew with slow, heavy flaps to the further side, where they stalked 

 along with stately strides as fast as a man could walk. Occa- 

 sionally one would utter a loud, ringing, resonant "whoop," 

 that could be heard for a long distance. Near one end of the 

 slough, in a small branch or inlet, several old Crane's nests, or 

 niuskrat houses, were found only a few rods apart. On one of 

 these were two large greenish-brown eggs, spotted quite thickly 

 over the whole surface with brown and buff spots and purplish 

 shell markings. Both eggs were perfectly fresh and measured 

 4.06x2.38 and 4.03x2.50. The nest was a mass of grass, rushes 

 and reeds, about two feet across and rose eight or ten inches 

 above the water, which was about eighteen inches deep. The 

 nest was so solidly built that I sat down on it without sinking it 

 into the water. The water was open for a few feet around the 

 nest, but in most places was grown up with rushes and sawgrass. 

 The two Cranes stalked along the hill-side some distance away, 

 keeping close together and apparently trying to divert our atten- 

 tion by holding their heads down, dragging one leg, or spreading 

 their wings. They finally approached within about twenty rods 

 and would stand perfectly still for a minute at a time, with the 

 wings wide-spread and held out from the body, making a beauti- 

 ful picture with their graceful snowy-white bodies and great 

 black-tipped wings. On our moving towards them, they flew a 

 short distance and alighted again, but defied closer approach. 



This was the first and last nest which has come under my 

 observation, though I visited the locality several times. On May 

 15, 1897, I saw one White Crane circling overhead near this vicin- 

 ity, and on June 5, 1897, was told by several different farmers 

 near here that a pair had remained all spring and been seen 

 always within a half a mile of the same place. Two boys said 

 they had seen the cranes that very day. Since then the Whoop- 

 ing Crane seems to have disappeared from Winnebago and Han- 

 cock, except as a rare migrant, and, with the recent extensive 



