WHOOPING CRANE. 85 



the peculiarity of which they derive their name. When wounded 

 they attack the gunner, or his dog, with great resolution; and 

 have been known to drive their sharp and formidable bill, at 

 one stroke, through a man's hand. 



During winter they are frequently seen in the low grounds and 

 rice plantations of the southern states, in search of grain and in- 

 sects. On the tenth of February I met with several near the 

 Waccamau river, in South Carolina; I also saw a flock at the 

 ponds near Louisville, Kentucky, on the twentieth of March. 

 They are extremely shy and vigilant, so that it is with the great- 

 est difficulty they can be shot. They sometimes rise in the air 

 spirally to a great height, the mingled noise of their screaming, 

 even when they are almost beyond the reach of sight, resem- 

 bling that of a pack of hounds in full cry. On these occasions 

 they fly around in large circles, as if reconnoitring the country 

 to a vast extent for a fresh quarter to feed in. Their flesh is said 

 to be well tasted, nowise savouring of fish. They swallow 

 mice, moles, rats, &c. with great avidity. They build their 

 nests on the ground, in tussocks of long grass, amidst solitary 

 swamps, raise it to more than a foot in height, and lay two pale 

 blue eggs, spotted with brown. These are much larger, and of 

 a more lengthened form, than those of the common hen. 



The Cranes are distinguished from the other families of their 

 genus by the comparative baldness of their heads, the broad flag 

 of plumage projecting over the tail, and in general by their su- 

 perior size. They also differ in their internal organization from 

 all the rest of the Heron tribe, particularly in the conformation 

 of the windpipe, which enters the breast bone in a cavity fitted 

 to receive it, and after several turns goes out again at the same 

 place, and thence descends to the lungs. Unlike the Herons, they 

 have not the inner side of the middle claw pectinated, and, in 

 this species at least, the hind toe is short, scarcely reaching the 

 ground. 



The vast marshy flats of Siberia are inhabited by a Crane very 

 much resembling the present, with the exception of the bill and 





