﻿268 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  difficult 
  to 
  procure. 
  They 
  subsist 
  principally 
  on 
  frogs, 
  insects, 
  snails 
  and 
  

   mice, 
  in 
  fact 
  are 
  rather 
  omnivorous 
  feeders. 
  Cranes 
  nest 
  on 
  the 
  wide 
  

   unfrequented 
  plains 
  and 
  marshes 
  of 
  the 
  Northwest, 
  in 
  America, 
  and 
  are 
  

   fast 
  being 
  driven 
  to 
  the 
  more 
  remote 
  mountains 
  and 
  arctic 
  marshes. 
  The 
  

   eggs 
  are 
  usually 
  two 
  in 
  number, 
  of 
  a 
  brownish 
  drab 
  color, 
  irregularly 
  spotted 
  

   with 
  different 
  shades 
  of 
  browni. 
  The 
  shell 
  is 
  c[uite 
  rough 
  with 
  warty 
  eleva- 
  

   tions. 
  The 
  young 
  are 
  covered 
  with 
  down 
  and 
  run 
  about 
  soon 
  after 
  hatching, 
  

   but 
  are 
  fed 
  for 
  some 
  time 
  by 
  the 
  parents. 
  

  

  Grus 
  americana 
  (Linnaeus) 
  

  

  Whooping 
  Crane 
  

  

  Ardea 
  americana 
  Linnaeus. 
  Syst. 
  Nat. 
  Ed. 
  lo. 
  1758. 
  1:142 
  

   Grus 
  americana 
  DeKav. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  218 
  

  

  A. 
  O.'U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  404 
  

  

  grus, 
  Lat., 
  a 
  crane; 
  americd'na, 
  American 
  

  

  Description. 
  Plumage 
  white, 
  except 
  the 
  wing 
  quills 
  which 
  are 
  black; 
  

   the 
  bare 
  skin 
  of 
  the 
  head 
  carmine 
  red 
  with 
  a 
  growth 
  of 
  black 
  hairs; 
  bill 
  

   dusky 
  greenish; 
  legs 
  black; 
  eyes 
  yellow. 
  Young: 
  Head 
  feathered; 
  general 
  

   color 
  whitish, 
  washed 
  with 
  rusty 
  brown. 
  

  

  Length 
  50-54 
  inches; 
  extent 
  90; 
  wing 
  22-25; 
  tail 
  9; 
  bill 
  5.5-6; 
  depth 
  

   at 
  base 
  1.4; 
  tarsus 
  1 
  1-12 
  ; 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  5. 
  

  

  The 
  home 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  North 
  America 
  from 
  Minnesota 
  

   and 
  Dakota 
  to 
  Slave 
  lake 
  and 
  south 
  in 
  winter 
  to 
  Florida, 
  Texas 
  and 
  Mexico. 
  

   Li 
  colonial 
  times 
  it 
  was 
  evidently 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  States 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  

   New 
  Jersey, 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  New 
  England, 
  but 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  definite 
  records 
  

   for 
  New 
  York 
  in 
  recent 
  times. 
  I 
  was 
  told 
  that 
  a 
  specimen 
  of 
  this 
  bird, 
  

   mounted 
  about 
  15 
  years 
  ago 
  at 
  Ward's 
  Natural 
  Science 
  Establishment 
  in 
  

   Rochester, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  was 
  killed 
  near 
  Cayuga 
  lake, 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  unable 
  to 
  

   trace 
  the 
  specimen. 
  In 
  recent 
  3'ears 
  its 
  line 
  of 
  migration 
  lies 
  almost 
  wholly 
  

   west 
  of 
  Lake 
  Michigan. 
  

  

  DeVries 
  in 
  his 
  Journal, 
  describing 
  the 
  countr}' 
  of 
  New 
  Netherlands, 
  

   mentions 
  White 
  cranes 
  as 
  occurring 
  (1639-42) 
  with 
  the 
  swans, 
  geese 
  

   and 
  ducks 
  which 
  swarmed 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  bay 
  [see 
  N. 
  Y. 
  Hist. 
  

   Soc. 
  Col. 
  2, 
  3, 
  no]. 
  

  

  