WHOOPING CRANE. 73 



turning over stones and pebbles from side to side in search 

 of various marine worms and insects. The young feed also 

 upon shrimps and different kinds of small shell-fish, particu- 

 larly minute mussels which are occasionally cast up by the 

 tides. According to Catesby, this habit, of turning over 

 stones in quest of insects is retained by the species even 

 when subjected to domestication. 



The Turnstone is a common spring and autumn migrant through- 

 out this Eastern region, but near the Atlantic is found only on the 

 sea-shore. It makes its nest in the Arctic regions, from Hudson 

 Bay northward, and during the winter ranges throughout South 

 America to the Straits of Magellan. 



The food of these birds is the usual shore-bird diet; but they 

 have been known to thrive upon boiled rice and bread soaked in 

 milk. They make interesting pets, as they are gentle and confid- 

 ing, and are readily reconciled to confinement. 



WHOOPING CRANE. 



GREAT WHITE CRANE. 

 GrUS AMERICANA. 



Char. General plumage white ; outer wing-feathers, or primaries, 

 black ; crown and cheeks nearly naked and colored orange red, the 

 sparse hair-like feathers black ; tail covered with long and graceful 

 plume-feathers. Bill greenish yellow, 6 inches long, stout, and pointed. 

 Length over 4 feet. 



Nest. On a dry mound in a marsh or on margin of a swamp ; made of 

 heavy marsh grass and placed on high platform of sedges. 



Eggs. 2-3 ; rough and coarse, bluish ash sometimes tinged with 

 brown ; marked with pale brown ; 3.80 X 2.60. 



This Stately Crane, the largest of all the feathered tribes in 

 the United States, like the rest of its family dwelling amidst 

 marshes and dark and desolate swamps, according to the 

 season is met with in almost every part of North America, 

 from the islands of the West Indies, to which it retires to pass 

 the winter, to the utmost habitable regions and fur countries of 

 the North. A few of these birds hibernate in the warmer parts 

 of the Union, and some have been known to linger through 



