SPECIES EXTINCT OR EXTIRPATED. 483 



mammals and insects, and is said to take corn and other 

 cereals and the succulent roots of water plants. 



Nuttall, describing the flights of the Whooping Crane up 

 the Mississippi valley in December, 1811, says " that the 

 bustle of their great migrations and the passage of their 

 mighty armies fills the mind with wonder." It seemed, he 

 says, as though the whole continent was giving up its quota 

 of the species to swell this mighty host, and the clangor of 

 their numerous legions, passing high in air, was almost deaf- 

 ening. His statement, that this great host of Cranes was 

 passing nearly all night, will give some idea of the immensity 

 of this great flight. What a change has come in a century! 



The Whooping Crane is doomed to extinction. It has dis- 

 appeared from its former habitat in the east and is now found 

 only in uninhabited places. It can hardly be said to be com- 

 mon anywhere, except perhaps locally in the far north. Only 

 its extreme watchfulness has saved thus far the remnant of its 

 once great host. 



SANDHILL CRANE {Grus mexicana). 



Length. —40 to 48 inches; wing, about 22; bill, 6. 



Adult. — Bill compressed; top of head bare, with short, straggling black 

 hairs; primaries dark plumbeous brown; rest of plumage bluish gray; 

 cheeks, throat and chin sometimes whitish. 



Nest. — On ground, made of grasses and weeds. 



Eggs. — Two to four, drab brown with varied markings; average about 3.88 

 by 2.63. Closely resemble those of the Whooping Crane. 



Season. — Formerly summer. 



Range. — Temperate North America; now rare or casual east of the Missis- 

 sippi, except in Florida; still common in the west and part of the south; 

 breeds in the wilder parts of its range in the north, also in Louisiana 

 and Florida. 



History. 



The Sandhill Crane, was described by MuUer (Natursyst. 

 Suppl., 1776, p. 110), and thus first became known to science 

 long after it had become well known to the American colonists. 

 Many of the Cranes found by the early explorers and settlers 

 all along the Atlantic seaboard were of this species. 



Possibly it formerly bred locally along the Atlantic coast 

 from Florida to New England. It still breeds in Florida and 



