CHAPTER XXV 



THE ORDER OF CRANES, RAILS, AND COOTS 



PALUD1C0LAE 



The name of this Order, Pal-u-dic'o-lae, 

 means "marsh-dweller," and the presence in it 

 of the cranes is enough to make it notable. It 

 must be admitted, however, that from the 

 stately and commanding crane down to the 

 humble coot, the scared gallinule, and the di- 

 minutive rail, is a long step downward. But it 

 is inevitable that the efforts of science to classify 

 the birds of the world in as few Orders as pos- 

 sible, should bring together many widely di- 

 vergent forms. To have a greater number of 

 Orders would be still more confusing to the 

 general student than the present number. 



In the order of Marsh-Dwellers there are 

 only two Families which are entitled to notice 

 here. These are the Cranes, and the Rails, 

 Gallinules and Coots. 



THE CRANE FAMILY. 



Gruidae. 



The Cranes of the world form a group of about 

 eighteen species, which, in stateliness, beauty 

 and oddity of habit, are second only to the 

 ostriches and their allies. Every zoological 

 garden which possesses a good collection of 

 cranes has good reason to be proud of it. The 

 Crowned Cranes of Africa are the most beautiful 

 species of all, the Paradise Crane is the oddest 

 in appearance, the little Demoiselle Crane, of 

 the Nile region, has the most amiable disposition. 

 The big, red-headed Saras Crane of India is the 

 most quarrelsome, and the stately Whooping 

 Crane of North America is the species which 

 comes nearest to being pure white. 



Through some mischievous and unfortunate 

 circumstance, the great majority of the people 

 who live in the eastern United States have be- 

 come almost fixed in the habit of calling the 

 great blue heron the "blue crane." The former 

 is common enough along watercourses and tidal 



rivers, but it is probable that not more than one 

 person out of every ten thousand has ever seen 

 in America a living wild crane. As applied to 

 wild-birds, the word "crane" should be used 

 most sparingly. Along the Atlantic coast, the 

 only locality in which it might correctly be used 

 afield is on the interior savannas of Florida. 



The Whooping Crane 1 is now one of the 

 rarest of all living North American birds. 

 Three years of diligent quest for living speci- 

 mens have produced but one bird. There were 

 in captivity on January 1, 1903, exactly six 

 specimens, four of which were in the United 

 States. Inasmuch as this bird is of no value 

 save to zoological gardens, it must be believed 

 that it has been wantonly shot, down to the 

 verge of extinction. Since it is a practical im- 

 possibility to induce it to breed in captivity, 

 the species seems almost certain to disappear 

 from our fauna at an early date. 



As seen with its wings closed, the visible 

 plumage of this grand bird is all snowy white. 

 When the wings are spread, however, it is found 

 that the largest feathers, called the primaries, 

 are jet black. The upper tail coverts form a 

 plume that arches upward over the tail, and 

 gives the bird a very jaunty air. The top of 

 the head is bare of feathers, and the rough skin 

 has a dull-red glow. The eye is big and keen, 

 and the bill is long, strong and rather blunt on 

 the end, for digging angle-worms out of the 

 ground, not for spearing fish. 



The strength of the beak and neck of the 

 Whooping Crane in the New York Zoological 

 Park is truly remarkable. The bird roams at 

 will in a grassy meadow of about two acres in 

 extent. Soon after it attained full growth, it 

 was noticed that after every rain, it would 

 vigorously attack the grass. With mandibles 

 1 Grus americana. 



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