CRANES AND KAILS. 27 



part of their range. At Wilmot, the last week in June (1910), I 

 shot two immature specimens which were probably reared not far 

 away. Three records of casual occurrence are at hand — the first, 

 a specimen (No. 9482, U. S. Nat. Mus.) collected at Fort Smith 

 on the Whipple Expedition in .1853-54;^ another, a mounted 

 specimen in the possession of Mr. S. C. Dowell, of Walnut Kidge, 

 which was killed on Swan Pond, near that town, about the year 1900; 

 and a third, killed at Stuttgart, April 25, 1906, by Mr. J. L. Felger. 



Whooping Crane. Gtos americana. 



The big white crane was formerly quite common in migration 

 through the Mississippi Valley, but is now very scarce. Only one 

 definite record of its occurrence in Arkansas has been found. Mr. 

 D. B. Wier, ^vTiting under the nom de plume of "Byrne," records 

 one of these birds seen near Crocketts Bluff on November 5, 1882.^ 



Sandhill Crane. Orus mexicana. 



Like the previous species, the sandhill crane was once a common 

 migrant in Arkansas, but is now scarce. Mr. D. B. Wier, writing 

 from Crocketts Bluff in 1881, speaks of these cranes as found on the 

 prairies near that place in February.^ In 1884, Mr. W. A. Monroe 

 recorded them on March 19 and 24 at Newport, and at Delight, in 

 1911, Mr. W. G. Savage saw a flock of 20 on March 12 and another 

 flock April 4. 



King Rail. Rallus elegans. 



This species, the largest of the rails, is given by Widmann as "a 

 fairly common summer resident in the marshes along the larger 

 rivers" in Missouri, and the same author states that it is reported by 

 Philo W. Smith, jr., of Eureka Springs, Ark., as a rare breeder in the 

 White River Valley near that town.^ It undoubtedly occurs fre- 

 quently in migration, though no records are at hand. It may be 

 looked for in the spring in March and April and in the fall in October 

 and November. 



Virginia Bail. Rallus virginianus. 



The Virginia rail is probably fairly common in migration both 

 spring and fall. Its breeding range is from Missouri northward. 

 The only record from Arkansas is that of HoUister, who saw one bird 

 at Stuttgart in January, 1899.= Like the other rails, it is an inhab- 

 itant of marshes and is very retiring in its habits. 



1 Kennerly, Whipple's Report Route near 35th Parallel, pt. 6, in Rept. Expl. and Surv. E. R. Pao. 

 X, p. 33, 1860. 



2 Forest and Stream, XIX, p. 308, 1883. 



8 "Byrne," Forest and Stream, XVII, p. 430, 1881. 

 ' Birds ol Missouri, pp. 68, 59, 1907. 

 6 Wilson Bull., IX, p. 12, 1902. 



