THE CRANES 



THE WHOOPING CRANE 

 (Grus arnericana) 



Only those who have shot in the Northwest, 

 West, and Southwest would be apt to rank this 

 and the following species as game-birds. To the 

 majority of eastern sportsmen, the name crane 

 suggests a long-legged, wading, fish and frog 

 eating, haunter of marshes, streams, and ponds, 

 and about the last sort of bird a man would care 

 to eat All that might be true enough of herons, 

 but it by no means applies to the rather similar 

 appearing, but really very different, cranes. 



The present species, the whooping crane, is not 

 only a game-bird in every sense of that term, but 

 he is one of the most difficult of all game-birds 

 to get the better of. Indeed, the Canada goose, 

 wild turkey, whooping crane, and his cousin, the 

 sand-hill crane, are all capable of thoroughly test- 

 ing the skill and resource of the craftiest of 

 sportsmen. 



A big swan, elevated upon very long legs, and 

 equipped with a bill like a bronze dagger, would 

 roughly resemble this stately bird as he towers 

 above the prairie grasses. The head of a full- 



353 



