424 WHITE WHOOPING CKANE. 



running about in circles, or performing other capers, but have also seen domesticated Cranes' 

 equally agile. One kept in a yard at. Cedar Keys, near our camp, not only entertained 

 his master by his grotesque performances, but also took upon himself the duties of a watch 

 dog, and whenever a stranger attempted to pass into Ihe gate in order to reach the house, 

 the Crane would endeavor to oppose his entrance; then if the intruder persisted in his ef- 

 forts, the bird would not hesitate to strike him with his strong beak, and the only way to 

 get by him in safety was to seize the bird by the bill and drag him a short distance, when 

 he would retreat, giving vent to his anger in loud screams. 



GRUS AMERICANA. 

 White Whooping Crane. 

 Grits Americana TEMM., Anal. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cn. Form, robust. Size, very large. Tongue, long, thin, and gradually tapering toward tip which is pointed. 

 Naked space on top of head, rounded backward. Tertiaries, greatly elongated. 



COLOR. Adult. Pure white throughout, with the primaries imd spurious wing, black. Sides of head, dusky. Naked 

 space about head, lake. Legs and bill, black. Iris, ruby-red. Youny. Similar to the adult, but overwashed with yel- 

 lowish, and the iris is yellow. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Readily known by the large size, white color as described, and rounded naked space on top of head, this being scal- 

 loped in the Sandhill. Both species have the head fully feathered when very young. Distributed, in summer, throughout 

 the West. Rare in South Central Florida. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of specimens from Western North America. Length, 52-00; stretch, 77'00; wing, 24'50; tail, 

 9-25; bill, 5'45; tarsus, 11-45. Longest specimen, 54'00; greatest extent of wing, TS'OO; longest wing, 24 00; tail, 9 50, bill, 

 5 75; tarsus, 11'80. Shortest specimen, 50'00; smallest extentof wing, 7u"00; shortest wing, 23'00; tail, 9 00; bill, 5'50; tar- 

 sus, ll'OO. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed on the ground in marshy places, composed of mud, weeds, and gras. Egy*, two in number, elliptical 

 in form, yellowish-ash in color, spotted and blotched coarsely and irregularly with reddish-brown and umber. Dimensions 

 from 2-60 x 3-90 to 2-65 x 4-00. 



HABITS. 



Some years ago, the late Capt. Dummett assured me that the White Whooping Crane 

 occurred on the prairies which He to the eastward of the Kissiniee River and Lake Okeecho- 

 bee, and this report has also been confirmed by others. I have, however, never been fortu- 

 nate enough to meet with a specimen of this fine Crane in Florida, and think that it must 

 be confined to the section mentioned above. 



There are some differences in the .structure of the trachea of the present species when 

 compared with that of the preceding. The keel in both is wide and well produced for- 

 ward, but in the Sandhill Crane, the trachea only enters it for about two inches, bends up- 

 ward to the level of the body of the sternum, then forward and downward, inclining back- 

 ward, but once more turns forward, emerging just below the point of entrance, and curving 

 downward, proceeds in its usual course to the larynx. Thus there is but one convolution 

 in the keel, which occupies only about seven inches, whereas in the Whooping Crane there 

 aiv said to be two distinct convolutions occupying some twenty-eighl inches. It would bo 

 interesting to note the differences in tone produced by these tracheal modifications.' The 

 Whooping Cranes resemble the Sandhills in habit, and are common throughout the West. 



