GRl'ID.K — THE CRANES — (iRTTS. 



407 



inches long in the stomacli of one of this species, lie dcHcriljes the cries uttered liy 

 tliis bird as loud and piercin;,' — so loud that they nii}j;lit l)e heard at the distance of 

 tliroe miles. The flesh of the youu},' bird he sjM'iiks of as bciiif,' tender and juicy, 

 wliih* in the (d<l birds it in'conies very dark and t()Ut,di, and is untit lor the tabic. In 

 captivity this Crane is extremely gentle, and will feed freely on grain and otlicr 

 vcgctalde substances. 



Mr. Audubon kept one, Avhih) he was in ]>oston, which hail lu'cn taken, wliile 

 young, on the Florida coast, a wing having been fractured and afterward aiajju- 

 tated. This bird was very gentle, and would suffer him to caress it witii the hand. 

 It searched the wood-jtile for worms and grubs, watclicd with the patiei "c of a cat 

 Ibr mice, and would swallow tliem whole, it also led on coi'u and garbage from tlie 

 kitchen. At tinu'S it would look upward, and, as if callin;f to some acquaintance 

 passing high in tlie air, would cry aloud. It was naturally suspicious of some lurk- 

 ing danger; and sonu'times, on very slight occasion, would manifest a sudden and 

 causeless alarm, as if some dreaded enemy were at hand. 



This bird has never l)een detected on the racitic^ coast, or west of the f!reat Plains ; 

 and as (1. rimii(lriis!.i iiii'.rlnnNi is common there, this of itself is suiticient evidence 

 (if the difference of the two species. Mr. Kcnniitott met with it at l''oit Ilesohiti.ni, 

 -May L'O, and procured a speoinu'u. A nest of this species, containing two eggs, was 

 found near Salt River, not far from Fort He.solntion, (Jreat Slave Lake, in 1.S(I4. 

 TJie eggs (Smithsonian Institution, No. UL'SH) measure, one .'i.SO inches by 'J.itO, the 

 otlicr 3.70 inches by !.'.")(). Their gro>ind-c(dor is a deep grayish white, with a Avash- 

 iiig of sepia, marked sparsely, except at the larger end, Avitli bold jjatches of dark 

 rusty si'pia-brown, and more obscure blotches of an opaque sepia. These last are 

 thinly siuittered over nearly the whole egg. At the extreme portion of the obtuse 

 end these markings are far more numerous, become continent, and form an irregular 

 crown. The eggs are oval in sliajje, and a little more rounded at one end than at 

 the other. 



Grus canadensis. 



a. canadensis. THE LITTLE BBOWN CRANE. 



Ardea canadensis, Linn. cd. 10, I. }7i>X, 1 fl ; cil. 12, 17<)t), 234 (Imseil on Kdwaiids, I. 33 ; Hinss. 



V. 385). — Fousi. Pliilos. Jour. 1..XI1. 177'2, 40!) (Scvcin It.). 

 Grus canadensis, Tkmm. Miiii. I. 1820, p. c. — .Sahink, Kiaiikliii's Jour. 685. — HlciiAlilis, I'luiy's 



Second V"oy. 353. — Sw. & liicil. F. 15. A. II. 1831, 373. — lioNAi'. t'oMsp. I. 1850, 08. — S( I,. 



Ibis, 1860, 418 (Hudson's \'m\). — lii.AKisr. Iliis, 1863, 128 (int. Brit. Am.). — Dai.i, & Ha.s.nist. 



Trans. Chicago Acad. I. 1869, 289 (St. Jlicliaid's, Alaska). — Tacz. J. f. O. 1873, 112 (N. E. 



Siberia). — CiiCEs, Clicck List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 060. 

 0ms fused (liart), ViKil.l,. N'ouv. l)ict. XIII. 1817, 558 (iiicludfs both forins). 

 Orus jmliuphicit, Waul. Syst. Av. 1827, (!rus, sp. 7 (l)asi'(] on KinvAuns). 

 Ofusfnilcrculus, Cass, in Bainl's R. N. Am. 1858, 656 (==juv. ; Xuw Moxioo !). — Baihd, Cut. N. 



Am. B. 1859, no. 480. — Au.r.s, Bull. X. O. C., V. 1880, 123. — Itimsw. ib. 187 ; Noin. N. Am. 



B. 1881, no. 584. 

 Grus fratcrcula, Tacz. Bull. See. Zool. France, 1876, 246. 

 Blue Craue, Foiisr. 1. c 



Brown Crane, Pkn.v. Arct. Zool. II. 1785, 443. —Lath. Synop. III. 1785, 43. 

 Little Brown Crane, Ridgw. 1. e. 

 Nortlwrn Sandldll Crane, Coitks, 1. c. 



/3. mexicana. THE SANDHILL CBANE. 



Ardea (gnis) mexicana, Mui.i.iai, S. N. Suppl. 1776, 110 (ex Biuss. V. 380). 



Ardea canadensis, var. /3, Lath. Ind. Oni. 11. 1790, 676 (Mexico). 



Grus pratensis, Bautu. Travels, 1701, 144, 218 (dr.scr. ). — Coues, ( iieek Ltst, 2d ed. 1882, no. 670. 



