HERONS, RAILS, ETC. 231 



rummaging among the dead leaves, and I can im- 

 agine no other reason for their doing so, unless it was to 

 catch the little black salamanders that were there and 

 at that time extremely abundant. Again, in confine- 

 ment, these birds seem to prefer the batrachian to fish. 



The Yellow-crowned Night-heron is a southern 

 species that very seldom wanders as far north as the 

 Middle States. I have seen it on the Delaware 

 meadows as far up the river as the limit of tide- 

 water. 



Of true Cranes we have three species, of which, 

 as we have seen, two were once seen on the Atlan- 

 tic coast as far north as New Jersey. Peter Kalm, 

 writing from New Jersey under date of February 

 17, 1749, says, 



" Cranes were sometimes seen flying in the daytime to the north- 

 ward. They commonly stop here early in spring for a short time, 

 but they do not make their nests here, for they proceed on more to 

 the north. Certain old Swedes told me that in their younger years, 

 as the country was not yet much cultivated, an incredible number of 

 cranes were here every spring, but at present (1749) they are not so 

 numerous. Several people who have settled here eat their flesh when 

 they can shoot them. They are said to do no harm to corn or the like." 



As given by Ridgway, the present range of the 

 Whooping-crane is as follows : " Interior of North 

 America, north to the Saskatchewan, south to Florida 

 and Central Mexico." 



This crane is said to be of " the most imposing 

 appearance of any [bird] of this country." It is more 

 than four feet in length, and when seen on the open 

 prairie is often mistaken for quite different objects 

 than birds of any kind. Dr. Coues, in " Birds of the 



