112 - CRANES. 



Southern portion of N. A. Kather common in Fla., frequent- 

 ing marshy places in the pine woods and elsewhere. Shy 

 and difficult to approach. 



2. WHOOPING CRANE, G. Americana. 52.00; bill, 

 .S.50; white, primaries, black. Young, yellowish; otherwise 

 asinl. The wing-beats of both species are slow, and in 

 flight the neck and head are outstretched. Both species soar 

 high in air much as in J" , A, a, 1. 



Based upon the Limpkin, A. giganteus, the chief char- 

 acters of this order are; Bill, much longer than the large 

 head ; neck, long ; wings, rather long, folding nearly to tip of 

 short tail, broad with ten primaries, the outer of which is 

 curved inward and enlarged at the terminal end and is much 

 shorter than the others; secondaries broad, and the inner are 

 as long as the primaries. The tendon of the lesser pectoral 

 muscle is ossified along the coracoid. Tibia, naked for half 

 its length ; tarsus and toes, long with reticulated scales. 

 Feathers of body, especially above, broad and large. Tongue, 

 long and slender; trachea, in adult males, convoluted into 

 three or four whorles near the middle ; sternum, narrow with- 

 out indentations on posterior margin. For other internal 

 structure see Maynard, Birds of Eastern N. A. in both edi- 

 tions, and Contributions to Science, Vol. III. Colors, brown 

 with arrow-shaped marks of white, fig. 129. Sexes, similar. 

 A. COUKLANS. Aramirtae. 



Characters as above. 



a. Liiupkins. Aramus. 



Characters as under X^. 



1. LIMPKIN, A. GIGANTEUS. 26.00; bill. 4.50; brown, 

 more or less glossed with purplish above, each feather of 

 body and neck marked with an arrow-shaped stripe of white; 

 throat white; bill, feet and iris, brownish. Young, duller, 

 with narrower stripes. Nestlings, black. Fla., Greater An- 

 tilles and Central America. Common. A noisy bird with 

 partly nocturnal habits, that occurs on the borders of swamps. 



