58 Monograph of the Cranes. 



author avers (in the supposition that such birds constitute a different 

 species), is highly remarkablej and the more so because such decidedly is not 

 the case with the Asiatic White Crane (6f. leuaogeranus), as Mr. A. 0. Hume's 

 observations show conclusively, and the more nearly allied European crane 

 (6f. communis) is likewise stated not to propagate before its second year. 

 Mr. Baird gives as the habitat of Q, americana " Florida and Texas, with 

 stragglers in the Mississipi Valley," not at all noticing its migrations ! 

 But Edwards (in 1750) identified his white bird, the skin of which was 

 received from the Hudson's Bay territory, with that of which the head is 

 figured in Cateby's "History of Carolina," and sensibly argued therefrom 

 the migratory habits of the species. 



Nevertheless, it appears that some pairs remain to breed in the South. 

 Mr. E. Dresser, in his "Notes on Southern Texas," published in the Ihis 

 for 1866 (p. 30), states : 



On my first visit to the town lagoon at Matamoras, in June 1863, 1 saw a couple of 

 this crane, and subsequently saw a small flock of seven or eight; but they were so 

 wary that I only succeeded in shooting two, one of which fell into the Rio Grande and 

 was lost. I inquired of the Mexicans as to where they bred, and was told that their 

 eggs could be procured at a lagoon some distance to the south-west of Bagdad (Boca 

 del B.io Grande) ; but, partly owing to the want of leisure, and partly to the unsettled 

 and dangerous state of the country, I was unable to go there. On my return to 

 Matamoras I saw none of the lagoons there. During my rambles in Texas I only saw 

 this bird on two or three occasions near San Antonio, and once at Point Isabel ; but I 

 was told that it was occasionally seen on Galveston Island, and at the mouth of the 

 Brazos River. 



In winter he would doubtless have met with it abundantly. Mr. Henry 

 Tonle Hind, in his "Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring 

 Expedition of 1857, and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring 

 Expedition of 1858," mentions that, at about 51° N. lat. and 104-5° B. 

 long., " beyond the Weed Ridge the country is very undulating ; boulders 

 of Silurian limestone were strewed on the flanks and summits of the hills. 

 The White or Whooping Crane [Qrus americana) was first seen to-day. 

 This beautiful bird is common in the Qu'appelle valley and in the 

 Touchwood Hill range." A few pages on the same author remarks that 

 " white cranes appeared in flocks of four and seven together, but they were 

 so wary that it was impossible to shoot them." 



