THE WHOOPING CRANE. 459 



No. 205. 



WHOOPING CRANE. 



A. O. U. No. 204. Grus americana (Linn.). 



Synonym. WHITE CRANE. 



Description. Adult : Plumage pure white, the wing-quills, primary coverts, 

 and alula black ; top of head, lores and cheeks bare, dull red, covered with a thin 

 growth of short black hair, the hair mixing more or less with white feathers on 

 hind nape ; bill dusky green ; feet and legs black. Immature : Similar to adult, 

 but head not bare ; plumage, especially on back, more or less overlaid with ochra- 

 ceous. Length 52.00 (1320.8) ; extent 90.00 (2286.) ; wing 24.00 (609.6) ; tail 

 11.00 (279.4) ; bill 5.50 ( 1*9.7) ; tarsus 11.50 (292.1) ; middle toe and claw 5.40 

 (137-2). 



Recognition Marks. "Eagle" size; immense size; long neck; long stout 

 black tarsi ; pure white coloration. 



Nesting. Does not breed in Ohio. Nest, of grasses, on ground in marsh. 

 Eggs, 2 or 3, pale olive or light drab, spotted and blotched with reddish brown and 

 with obscure purplish gray shell-markings. Av. size, 4.00 x 2.50 ( 101.6 x 63.5). 



General Range. Interior of North America from the Fur Countries to 

 Florida, Texas, and Mexico, and from Ohio to Colorado. Formerly on the Atlantic 

 Coast, at least casually, to New England. 



Range in Ohio. Rare migrant in western half of state only. 



YEARS ago this stately bird was occasionally seen during the migra- 

 tions. It formerly bred in abundance in Illinois, and may once have done 

 so in northwestern Ohio, but the center of the bird's present breeding range 

 lies further north and west. Upon the prairies of North Dakota, Dr. Coues 

 declares that he has mistaken one of these Cranes at a distance for an ante- 

 lope, so great was its size. 



That the Whooping Crane deserves its name we cannot doubt after we 

 learn that it is provided with a windpipe nearly five feet long, some two feet 

 of which, for convenience, is coiled away in the breast bone. 



