WADING BIRDS 



CRANES, RAILS, Etc. Order VIII. PALUDICOLvE 



CRANES. Family GRUIDAE 



Cranes are large, long-legged, long-necked birds, somewhat resembling 

 Herons. Their structure and mode of living partakes more of the nature of 

 the Rails, however. They are found upon the prairies, where besides shell 

 flsh from the ponds, they teed largely upon grasshoppers, worms, etc. 



204. Whooping C'jfANE. Gru.s aiiiericanti. -?r — ' 



Range. — Interior of North America, breeding 

 from about the latitude of Iowa northward to the 

 Arctic regions; winters in the Gulf slates and 

 southward. 



The Whooping Crane is the largest of the fam- 

 ily in America, measuring 50 inches or more in 

 length. The plumage of the adults is pure white, 

 with black primaries. The bare parts of the head 

 and face are carmine. It is a very locally dis- 

 tributed species, in some sections being practi- 

 cally unknown, while in a neighboring locality it 

 may be rated as common. They are very shy 

 birds and are not easily obtained. They nest 

 either upon the solid earth or in marshy places 

 over the water. In either case the nest is a very 

 bulky mass of grass and weeds from two to three 

 feet in diameter and raised perhaps a foot above 

 the ground. They lay two eggs of a brownish 

 buff color, irregularly blotched with brown, and 

 with fainter marking of gray. Size 3.75 x 2.50. 

 Data. — Torkton, northern Assiniboia, northwest 

 Canada. Nest a mass of marsh hay, three feet in 

 diameter, on the prairie. Tlie birds seen, but very 

 wary. (Collector, Cowbrv Brown. 



205. Little Brown Ckane. 

 Griis criniidensis. 



Range. — North America in the interior, breed- 

 ing from Hudson Bay and southern Alaska north 

 to the Arctic coast; south in winter to Mexico. 



This uniform gray colored Crane differs from 

 the next species only in size, being about three 

 feet in length, while the Sandhill averages three 

 and one-half feet. The eggs cannot Ije distin- 

 guished with any certainty. 



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