204 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



county ditches and reclamation of marsh land in that part of the 

 state, it is extremely doubtful whether the species will ever nest 

 again in Iowa. 



County records: BlacKhawk — " scarce migrant " (Peck). Polk 

 — ' 'rare ' ' (Johnson. Pottawattamie-Mills — ' ' rare migrant ' ' 

 (Trostler). Poweshiek — "rare transient" (Kelsey). Sioux— 

 " migrant" (Johnson); " rare summer resident, near Ha warden, 

 in 1890" (Berry). Warren — "rare; of late years the cranes 

 have become rare in this vicinitj^ " (Jeffrey). Wayne — (Brown). 

 Woodbury — " rare transient ; usually passes here so high in the 

 air that you can search often before seeing them " (Rich). 



78. (205). Gins canadensis {l^mn.). Little Brown Crane. 



The Little Brown Crane or Northern Brown Crane is supposed 

 to be confined in the breeding season to Arctic and northern 

 North America, migrating through the western United States. 

 Its plumage is substantially the same as that of the Sandhill 

 Crane, but the bird is distinguishable b}' its smaller size. Coues 

 gives the average measurements: Length 36; wing 1S-19; tail 

 7; bill 3-4; tibia bare for about three inches. 



The University museum has several Iowa specimens averaging 

 as small as this. One specimen, No. 6258, was "sent to Robert 

 Ridgway, who identified it as G. canadensis: female; Holly 

 Springs, Iowa, April 8, 1887; D. H. Talbot Coll. L. 34.50; E. 

 68; W. 16.75; T. 6.80; B.3.72; Ts.5.50; Tb.(bare portion) 2.30. 



Seventeen other specimens in the Talbot collection from west- 

 ern Iowa come well within the limits of canadensis as given by 

 Coues' Key and Ridgway's Manual. Nos. 5205, 5215, 5222, 

 5364,6251,6256,6261, all taken near Holly Springs, April 8, 1887; 

 5206, Whiting, April 12, 1887; 5206 and 5213, Whiting, April 12, 

 1886; 5199, Holly Springs, April 18, 1887; 5209, Sloan, April 28, 

 1884; 5217, Sloan, April, 1884; 5365, Whiting, April 6, 1886; 

 6252, Whiting, April 9, 1886; 5402 and 6255, Sloan (no date). 



Wm. E. Praeger writes that he has "one record; shot April 10, 

 1896, in Missouri, just across the Des Moines River — Keokuk 

 district;" also reported as a "rare migrant in Lee county" (Cur- 

 rier); and as a "rare migrant in Kossuth" (Bingaman). 



Kumlien and Hollister record two positive specimens from Wis- 

 consin (Bds. of Wis., 37). "L. Skow has reported it from Omaha; 

 very rare migrant" (Rev. Bds. Neb., 34). 



