210 WHOOPING CRANE. 



ly cold, it regularly retired at the approach of night under a covered pas- 

 sage, where it spent the hours of darkness ; but it always repaired to this 

 place with marked reluctance, and never until all was quiet and nearly dark, 

 and it came out, even when the snow lay deep on the ground, at the first ap- 

 pearance of day. Now and then it would take a run, extend its only wing, 

 and, uttering a loud cry, leap several times in the air, as if anxious to re- 

 turn to its haunts. At other times it would look upwards, cry aloud as 

 if calling to some acquaintance passing high in the air, and again use its 

 ordinary note whenever its companion the Snow Goose sent forth her own 

 signals. It seldom swallowed its food without first carrying it to the 

 water, and dipping it several times, and now and then it would walk 

 many yards for that express purpose. Although the winter was severe, 

 the thermometer some mornings standing as low as 10°, the bird fattened 

 and looked extremely well. So strong was the natural suspicion of this 

 bird, that I frequently saw it approach some cabbage leaves with mea- 

 sured steps, look at each sideways before it would touch one of them, 

 and after all, if it by accident tossed the leaf into the air when attempt- 

 ing to break it to pieces, it would run off as if some dreaded enemy were 

 at hand. 



The trachea of this bird, of which you will find a notice at p. 213, 

 confirms my opinion that the Canada Crane and the Whooping Crane are 

 merely the same species in different states of plumage, or in other words, 

 at different ages ; and, in truth, the differences are not greater than those 

 exhibited by many other birds, both aquatic and terrestrial. In illus- 

 tration of this subject I might adduce Ibises, Herons, Divers, and Grebes; 

 but this is quite unnecessary. 



In reading the accounts given of the Canada Crane of authors, I find 

 no description of its manner of breeding. In the Fauna Boreali-Ameri- 

 cana of Mr Swainsok and Dr Richardson, the eggs of both are describ- 

 ed, and in Ncttall's Manual those of the Whooping Crane also ; but 

 in these works the account given of the birds and of their eggs is such, 

 that one might even, from comparing the descriptions, suppose them to be 

 of the same species. I have never had the satisfaction of finding any of 

 the breeding-places of the Whooping Crane ; but I well know that many 

 birds breed long before they have attained their full plumage. The sup- 

 posed new species of Heron described under the name of Ardea Pealii, 

 by my excellent friend Prince Charles Bonaparte, breeds as the White- 

 headed Eagle sometimes does, the immature bird in a snow-white dress, 



