Order Oruif 



ruirormes 



Cranes: family Gmidae 



Little Brown Crane: 



Grus canadensis canadensis (Linnaeus) 



DESCRIPTION. A smaller edition of the Sandhill Crane described next. Si%e: 

 "Length 35, wing 17.502.0.00, bill 3.044.2.0, tarsus 6.708.44." (Bailey) Nest and 

 eggs: Same as Sandhill Crane. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from northern and western Alaska, and Melville 

 and Baffin Islands south to southern mainland of Alaska, southern Mackenzie, and 

 Hudson Bay. Winters from California and Texas south into Mexico. In Oregon: 

 Migrant in spring and probably fall. 



OUR KNOWLEDGE of the status of the Little Brown Crane in Oregon is 

 very unsatisfactory. Merrill (1888) recorded it from Fort Klamath and 

 listed a specimen taken on June 10. Jewett saw a single bird that was 

 killed in March 1905 in Harney County and mounted as part of the 

 county exhibit in the Lewis and Clark Fair in Portland. The following 

 item from Jewett's notebook summarizes the data: 



November 6, 1911. Walter Donart has a mounted specimen without data that he claims 

 was killed here (Klamath Falls) recently. I saw the Crane but took no measurements, 

 although it was a small crane. 



We have lost track of this specimen and know no more about it. Anthony 

 listed the species as common in fall and rare in the spring at Portland in 

 the list he furnished for Mrs. Bailey's Handbook of Birds of the Western 

 United States (Bailey 19021). We do not know on what evidence this state- 

 ment was based, but we have been unable to find any western Oregon 

 specimen whatever. Willett (1919) listed it as common in Harney County 

 in April. In response to an inquiry, he stated under date of June 3, 1934: 



I do not know of any specimens [Little Brown Crane] having been taken in your State, but 

 they were undoubtedly common in migration there in years gone by and probably come 

 through in small numbers yet. I saw a good many of them in Harney Valley during the 

 spring migration, as I noted in the Condor, but did not collect any. I was quite close to them 

 and have no doubt as to their identity. 



Willett is especially familiar with the water birds, and we therefore feel 

 that his records are entirely acceptable and probably represent a close 

 approximation to the former status of the species in the State. At present, 



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