76 Monograph of the Granes. 



dispersing in pairs over the interior prairies to build their nests, which are placed 

 amid the tall fern on the highest and most open ground, where they can see the 

 approach of danger. They frequent, at this season, the mountains to the height 

 of 6000 feet above the sea. The young are often raised from the nest by the Indians 

 for food." 



"In the autumn and winter," Dr. Newberry observes, "it is abundant on the 

 prairies of California, and is always for sale in the markets of San Francisco, where it 

 is highly esteemed as an article of food. In August we frequently saw them about the 

 Klamath Lakes, and early in September, while in the Cascade Mountains, in Oregon, 

 the Cranes were a constant feature of the scenery of the beautiful but lonely mountain 

 meadows in which we encamped. We found them always exceedingly shy and difficult 

 of approach, but not untrequently the files of their tall forms stretching above the 

 prairie grass, or their discordant and far-sounding screams, suggested the presence of 

 the human inhabitants of the region, whose territory was now, for the first time, 

 invaded by the white man. The Cranes nest in the alpine meadows, and retreat to the 

 milder cUmate of the valleys of California on the approach of winter. In Oregon they 

 begin to move southward in October." 



Thousands of Sandhill Cranes repair each year to the Colorado Biver Valley, flock 

 succeeding flock along the course of the great stream, from their arrival in September 

 until their departure the following spring. Taller than the Wood Ibises or the largest 

 Herons with which they are associated, the stately birds stand in the foreground of the 

 scenery of the valley, the water now reflecting the shadow of their broad wings, then 

 the clear blue sky exhibiting in outline their commanding forms. Such ponderous 

 bodies, moving with slowly-beating wings, give a great idea of momentum from mere 

 weight — of force of motion without swiftness ; for they plod along heavily, seeming to 

 need every inch of their ample wings to sustain themselves. One would think they 

 must soon alight fatigued with such exertion, but the raucous cries continue, and the 

 birds fly on for miles along the tortuous stream, in Indian file, under some trusty 

 leader, who croaks his hoarse orders, implicitly obeyed. Each bird keeps his place in 

 the ranks ; the advancing column now rises higher over some suspected spot, now falls 

 along an open, sandy reach, swaying meanwhile to the right or left. As it passes on, 

 the individual birds are blended in the hazy distance, till, just before lost to view, the 

 line becomes like an immense serpent gliding mysteriously through the air. When 

 about to alight, fearful less the shadows of the woods harbour unseen danger, the 

 Cranes pass by the leafy intricacies where the Ibises and other less suspicious birds 

 feed, and choose a spot for the advantage it may offer of uninterrupted vision. By 

 nature one of the most wary and discreet of birds, his experience has taught the Crane 

 to value, this gift and put it to the best use. His vigilance is rarely relaxed, even when 

 he is feeding where less thoughtful birds would feel perfectly secure. After almost 

 every bending of his long neck to the ground, he rises erect again, and at full length 

 glances keenly on every side. He may resume bis repast, but should so much as a 

 speck he cannot account for appear to view, he stands motionless, all attention. Now 

 let the least sound or movement betray an unwelcome visitor — he bends his muscular 

 thighs, spreads his ample wings, and springs heavily into the air, croaking dismally in 

 warning to all his kind within the far-reaching sound of his voice. 



The eggs of the Sandhill Crane are of the same general character as those of 

 0. ameriecma, in texture of shell, its colour, and markings, but, to judge from limited 

 comparisons, are usually more elongate, if not also somewhat less capacious — 3.80 by 

 2.60 ; 3.90 by 2.60 ; 4.10 by 2.40 (long and narrow) ; 3.65 by 2.10 ; the latter remarkably 

 small, as well as unusually narrow. Eggs are in the collection from Liverpool Bay, on 

 the Arctic coast; from Great Slave Lake; from Washington Territory; Fort Crook, 

 California ; Lake Simpson, Utah ; Iowa, Florida, and Cuba, They cannot be positively 

 distinguished, in any given instance, from those of 0. americana. 



