34 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



76. Qrus canadensis (Linn.). Little Brown Crane. 



This species occurs in the interior of North America and breeds 

 as far north as the Arctic coast. 



On October 21, 1890, I shot an adult male near Mount Pleas- 

 ant, and I quote the account of the capture of this bird which 

 I wrote for the Auk: 1 



On October 18, 1890, I heard » most remarkable sound, something like that 

 made by blowing a large tin horn. I was told by one of the negroes on the 

 plantation that it was a Wild Goose. Early in the morning of the following day 

 I heard the note again and saw the bird flying in the heavens. One glance was 

 enough to show me it was a crane. After sailing about for some hours it flew 

 down in a corn field among a drove of cows. I started in pursuit with my brother- 

 in-law, he taking a stand, and I one, about a hundred yards away. The bird 

 rose, but sailed away from both of us, not near enough for a shot. It sailed about 

 in circles until it was lost to our view. 



On the 21st I started to the corn field again with the hope of seeing the bird. 

 Upon shooting four doves (Zenaidura macroura) , the crane arose from the field 

 where it had been feeding along with the cows and flew about a mile away. Away 

 I went in pursuit but found it was impossible to get nearer than a hundred yards 

 without being seen. I waited under some bushes for an hour hoping it would 

 come nearer. The whole time the bird remained on the ground it was making the 

 trumpet-like sound . Finally it flew and lit about half a mile off in a myrtle pasture , 

 where there were two ponds of water. I knew I would in the end secure the bird, 

 so walking cautiously about I at last saw the red on his head. He was standing 

 in the middle of the pond and as he rose I secured him. The bird is an adult male 

 in perfect plumage. Although the specimen is considerably smaller than average 

 Grus mexicana, for the present it may stand as such. 



This bird was originally recorded as the Sandhill Crane (G. 

 mexicana), but proved to be the Little Brown Crane (G. cana- 

 densis), and a correction was made in the Auk for October, 1894 . 2 



This is the first record of this species for the State, and the 

 second for the Atlantic coast, one specimen having been taken 

 in Rhode Island. 3 



77. Qrus mexicana (Mull.). Sandhill Crane. 



There were many mounted specimens of this species in adult plu- 

 mage in the Charleston Museum, which were labeled "Whoop- 

 ing Crane." All of them were dust-stained and moth-eaten, and 

 when Dr. Gabriel E. Manigault became the curator, he consid- 

 ered them as trash and they were thrown away. As this species 

 breeds in the Okeefinokee swamp in Georgia, it is possible that 

 it still occurs in this state during the migrations, but I have 

 never seen a specimen taken here during the past twenty- 

 five years. The specimens which were in the Charleston Museum 

 were taken on the Waccamaw River. 



1 VIII, 1891, 308-309. ' This specimen is now in the Charleston Museum (Spec. 



No. 226).— Ed. ' See Brewster, Auk, VII, 1890, 89. 



