98 WATER BIRDS 
minnows, and small snakes brought to the nest, and 
these are carefully killed before being given to the young. 
The ery of the Black-crowned Night Heron is a harsh 
guttural squawk or croak, and the noise made when the 
rookery is full of young birds screaming for food is inde- 
scribable. Each brood discern their own parent flying 
toward the nest, and, although the nestlings have sat in 
unbroken silence until then, at sight of him the hungry 
cries begin. 
206. SANDHILL CRANE. — Grus mevicana. 
Famity: The Cranes. 
Length: 44.00. 
Adults: Bluish gray, varying to brownish gray; paler on throat and 
sides of head, darker on primaries; crown nearly bare, covered with 
reddish membrane and a scant growth of black hairs. 
Young : Crown feathered ; plumage rusty brown. 
Geographical Distribution: United States from the Mississippi valley 
west to Pacific coast, south to Mexico, east along the Gulf coast to 
Florida. 
Breeding Range : In mild localities throughout its habitat. 
Breeding Season: February, March, and April. 
Nest: A platform of weeds and grass, on the water line, in a marshy 
‘Jagoon. 
Eggs: 2; grayish yellow, spotted with cinnamon and gray. Size 
3.98 X 2.44. 
THE habits of the Sandhill Crane and those of the 
whooping crane are very similar. “ During courtship 
and the early breeding season their actions and antics at 
times are ludicrous in the extreme, bowing and leaping 
high in the air, hopping, skipping, and circling about, 
with drooping wings and croaking whoop, — an almost 
indescribable dance and din, in which the females join, 
