MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS. 237 



A merica by having the top of the head in each naked, somewhat 

 warty, haired and red in color. 



The length of the White Crane is between four and five feet, 

 The bare part of the head narrows to a point on the occiput, and 

 extends on each side of the head below the eyes. It is very hairy. 

 General plumage white ; primaries, their coverts and alula black ; 

 Dill very powerful, greenish in color ; legs black. 



This species is rarely secured with the shot-gun. It is very 

 wary, and must be stalked with the utmost care ; and shot with a 

 rifle-ball at a distance of one hundred yards or more. The White 

 Crane bi'eeds sparingly throughout the northern portion of the 

 interior. The eggs are two in number, of a muddy white color 

 with spots of dull brown. They are not to be certainly distin- 

 guished from those of the next species. 



Grus canatiensis.—Temm. Sandhill Crane. Brown Crane. 



Somewhat smaller than the foregoing ; the naked patch on the 

 head forking behind to receive a feathered point, not extending 

 below to the eyes, and scarcely hairy. General color grey, prima- 

 ries, their coverts, and alula black. 



This species is very abundant from the Mississippi Valley west- 

 ward, and is equally common on the plains and in the mountains. 

 Farther east it rarely occurs in any numbers, and is scarcely found 

 at all on the sea coast north of Flouda. In California it is abund- 

 ant in the fall, and is often exposed for sale in the markets. 



Although scarcely less wary than its congener the Whooping 

 Crane, it is more often killed on account of its greater abundance. 

 Sometimes they are shot by grouse shooters who come upon them, 

 feeding in sloughs or under cut banks, and thus get wdthin range 

 before being discovered. But as a rule the securing of these birds 

 is purely a matter of chance. The young of this species are said 

 to be tender and well flavored. The Sandhill Crane breeds through- 

 out the mountains and plains of the West, laying two eggs usually 

 on the ground, but sometimes building on a tree, as noted by the 

 writer in the Black Hills of Dakota, in 1874. 



