26 



THE XrniOLOGIST. 



THE LITTLE BROWN CRANE. 



{(jKus i-af/a(/t'nsis.) 



This species is found in tolerable abund- 

 ance in all suitable places in liritish Colum- 

 bia, but is most common in the interior of 

 the Mainland, east of the Cascades, and 

 northeast towards Cariboo. It is also com- 

 mon in various parts in Manitoba, and 

 other regions of nonhwestern Canada; and 

 northwest to the Coast of Alaska. Its 

 home and haunts are generally around the 

 margins of marshy lakes and low-growth 

 swamps, and in such places, on islets and 

 among flags and grasses its nest is placed. 

 This is usually a large flat structure, com- 

 posed of dry flags, grasses, and such other 

 decayed vegetable matter as it can readily 

 collect in the vicinity. In a depression, in 

 the center of this, two eggs are deposited; 

 these are large and handsome, and though 

 similar in color and marking to those of 

 the Sandhill, and Whooping Cranes, yet 

 they are at once distinguishable by their 

 smaller size. The ground color is usually 

 ashy-yellow-drab, blotched and clouded, 

 chiefly at the larger end, with different 

 shades of brown and gray. In sizes these 

 eggs average about 3-50 by 2-30. Th& Lit- 

 tle Brown Crane feeds on frogs, tadpoles, 

 and fish, as well as various aquatic creat- 

 ures which swarm in the watery-wastes, so 

 here it makes its summer home. At a short 

 distance its appearance resembles that of a 

 Tirkey, but the neck and bill are longer, as 

 are also the legs, which later are well 

 adapted to wading in deep water when in 

 search of its food. The color of the plum- 

 age is brownish, with darker lines. Its 

 nesting period is the latter part of May and 

 early June, and the young are hatched out 

 early in July, and remain in their downy 

 state until the autumnal moult; and in 

 (October they begin to move southwards 

 towards their winter homes, which are in 

 Southern California, and in the regions to 

 the east, and south, the line of migration 

 being generally along the Coast. 



In the spring it is among the earliest to 



arrive in the vicinity of its summer home, 

 being nearly as early as the Swan, and 

 usually in advance of the Geese; and should 

 it arrive too early it passes much of its time 

 on the wing, until the weather becomes 

 more open, and the main body of the in- 

 coming migration have arrived; when in 

 some of the low marshy grounds they 

 sometimes appear in flocks of several hun- 

 dred. In the mating season, they at times 

 execute the most surprising performances. 

 A number will assemble in some level 

 place and amid the most deafening croaks 

 go through a .series of comic movements, 

 much like the dancing of a quadrille by 

 human beings. Its flesh is sometimes 

 eaten, but except the bird is j'oung the 

 flesh is not pleasant. It has seldom been 

 seen on the Aleutian Islands, and when any 

 are noticed there it is probably some storm- 

 driven stragglers. — Frotn Mss. ''Avifauna 

 of British Columbia,'" 



William L. Kells, 

 Listowell, Ontario. 



BIRDS AFFECTED BY HEAT. 



All birds are not affected alike by heat. 

 One sweltering day in August, with the 

 thermometer at 105 degrees, I was lying 

 for a brief breathing spell in the grateful 

 shade of a "weeping" willow. 



My attention was attracted by a flock of 

 Brewer's Blackbirds, which had alighted 

 in a swarm in the du.stj- road, and were 

 feeding as unconcernedlj- as I have .seen 

 them in an April breeze. While I was 

 admiring the hardiness of these Grackles 

 I heard a. sharp, distressed cry, and looking 

 up I saw a Butcher Bird (the California 

 Shrike) clinging to a branch of the willow. 



The butcher seemed to be in a pitiable 

 state; his bill was stretched wide open, 

 as though he was almost dead from the 

 heat, and at intervals he uttered the most 

 agonizing cries. 



I stepped into the tree from a fence and 

 climbed to within a few feet of him, but he 

 refused to fly, as though the effort was too 

 great, scrambling, instead, on to a small 

 branch. I followed and he hopped behind 

 a limb, and here I got so close to him that 

 had I wished to I could easily have taken 

 him captive. H. R. T. 



