324 THE CRANES 



enemy to the sand-hill than is the blustering crop- 

 owner." 



For my part I do not care much for this sport. I 

 have only seen the cranes in sufficient numbers to make 

 it worth while to go in pursuit of them on ground 

 where the best varieties of ducks were abundant, and 

 the ducks are better marks to test one's skill and vastly 

 better eating. 



The cranes are large birds, and, as they come flapping 

 up to the decoys or sail overhead, seem to be going 

 much slower than they really are. I do not regard 

 them as difficult marks, but the sportsman must hold 

 well ahead of a passing bird or he will certainly shoot 

 behind him. 



I have never tried but once to stalk the sand-hill 

 crane. Upon that occasion we were driving on the 

 plains, when we observed a flock of cranes feeding 

 upon a marshy tract a long distance away. I stopped 

 the driver (a Sioux Indian) and we held a consultation 

 as to the propriety of stalking them. The Indian was 

 quite anxious to try the shot, and asked for a gun and 

 permission to do so. I was desirous of seeing him un- 

 dertake their approach and was confident of his suc- 

 cess, but never having shot a crane I finally decided to 

 try for the shot. Putting a tall bunch of grass or 

 rushes between me and the birds, I worked carefully 

 toward them. They took flight at long range, but the 

 heavy charge I sent after them brought one down with 

 a broken wing. It fell far out on the marsh, which was 

 overgrown with tall rushes, and since I had no dog I 

 was unable to recover it. 



Mr. Wells, writing for Forest and Stream^ says that 



