THE OOLOGIST. 



11 



Btrds^ Eggs and JSTests. 



Species mentioned in this issue : — 

 Whooping Crane, Sandhill Crane, 

 White Ptarmigan. 



478. Whooping Crane. 



This bird breeds in the northwestern 

 parts of the United States, notably in Min- 

 nesota, Dakota and Nebraska, extending 

 down the valley of the Mississippi to Texas. 

 The eggs are large, of a regular ovoidal 

 shap3, perhaps slightly enlongated, and of 

 a pale brownish drab, covered with spots 

 and blotches of three shades of brown, pre- 

 dominant among which is brownish red. 

 These markings are either of a medium 

 size, such as would be termed ordinary spots 

 or they are large blotches, scattered over 

 the entire shell, usually thickest about the 

 greater end. Scattered over the whole sur- 

 face are also fine broAvn dots, more or less 

 obscure. A specimen from Iowa, collected 

 in 1870, measures 3.80 by 2.60 iuches. 

 The shell is covered about the maximum 

 end with little knob-like projections, and 

 like the egg of the Wild Turkey, is covered 

 with minute punctures all over. 



479. Sandhill Crane. 



In habits and distribution, this bird may 

 be said to bear a similitude to the one above 

 mentioned, and it has often been confound- 

 ed with it by some of our primitive natur- ^ 

 alists. Literally speaking, it is found on | 

 the plains and slopes Avest of the Mississip- ' 

 pi, or rather within the Mississippi Valley. \ 

 Mr. Dall remarks its occurrence in Alaska ; | 

 it is found in Florida ; and Dr. Newberry I 

 notes its abundance in various parts of Cal- I 

 ifornia and Oregon. ! 



In general characteristics the eggs of this I 

 Crane do not differ perceptibly from those | 

 of the previous' bird. Two specimens, both \ 

 collected in Iowa, measure 3.G5 by 2.30 i 

 and 3.65 by 2.28, showing that they are \ 

 generally more enlongate than the others. I 

 The ground color of the two in question is 

 light creamy drab, perhaps exhibiting a 

 tinge of brownish. One specimen is spars- ' 



ly covered with blotches of chocolate, raw 

 umber and yellowish brown, forming the 

 prettiest specimen I ever saw. The mark- 

 ings of the other conform more to spots, 

 but these are few and about the greater end. 

 In the eggs of both this and the Whooping 

 Crane the shell is very thick and tough. 

 The nest of either is sirajjly a depression in 

 the ground, usually near the water. 



467. White Ptarmigan. 

 The habits of this bird, as near as we can 

 quote, are like those of other Grouse, but 

 its distribution may be said to be North 

 America in general north of the United 

 States, though it is found rarely in our bor- 

 der States. The nest is composed of moss, 

 leaves and the vegetation usually prevalent 

 on the ground, scraped together under a 

 sheltering shrub. We have the description 

 of a nest Ibund by a trapper on the Severn 

 I'iver, a himdred miles or so from Hudson's 

 Bay. He states that it was made in a hole 

 where once there had evidently been a stone. 

 It was not deep, but shallow and composed 

 primarily of leaves of ground plants and 

 moss, with a few feathers. The nest con- 

 tained six young birds, which were zeal- 

 ously protecteb by the female. 



An %^^^ from the Smithsonian Institution, 

 of which the above is a good illustration, 

 measures about 1.70 by 1.15 inches. It 

 is light brown, entirely covered with spots 

 and blotches of very dark cinnamon and 

 umber brown, quite evenly distributed. 



TQ BE CONTINUED, "OviTM." 



