Cranes 



— Strange performances indeed for birds preeminently pompous 

 and circumspect! Certain of the owls and plovers and the flicker 

 also go through laughable antics to win their coy brides, but such 

 boldness of wooing by the female cranes presages the arrival of a 

 "coming woman" among birds, still more nearly approached by 

 the female phalarope, that, without encouragement, does all the 

 wooing. 



One may more easily hope to find a weasel asleep than to 

 steal upon a crane unawares. Before settling down to a feeding 

 ground, it will describe great spirals in the air to reconnoitre, the 

 ponderous body moving with slow wing beats, while the keen eyes 

 scrutinize every inch of the region lest danger lurk in ambush. 

 Grrrrrrrrrrroo, a harsh, penetrating tremolo calls out to learn if the 

 coast is clear, and grrrrrrrrrooo come back the raucous cries from 

 sentinels far and near. Hidden in the grasses, cramped, motion- 

 less, breathless, one may be finally rewarded by the alighting 

 of the great stately bird that finally comes drifting downward and 

 stalks over the meadow, alert and suspicious. Not a sound 

 escapes its sharp ears, nor a skulking mouse its even sharper 

 eyes. It will thrust its beak unopened through its prey, whether 

 it is a fish, frog, mouse, or reptile. This terrible weapon makes 

 cowards of the crane's foes, small and large, yet it is the bearer 

 of the spear that is the greatest coward of all. 



In addition to animal food, cranes eat quantities of cereals, 

 and when vegetable fed, as they are apt to be in autumn, sports- 

 men hunt them eagerly, but not too successfully, for no other 

 game bird, unless it is the whooping crane or the wild turkey, so 

 taxes their skill. It is impossible to steal upon them on the open 

 prairie; and in the grass-grown sloughs approach is hardly less 

 difficult. After each bending of the long neck, up rises the head 

 for another reconnoitre. If any unusual sight come within range, 

 the bird stands motionless and tense; then convinced of real dan- 

 ger, "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," to quote Dr. 

 Coues. In spite of its heavy body the crane rises with slow cir- 

 clings to a great height until, large as it is, it becomes a mere 

 speck against the clouds. The long neck and stilt-like legs are 

 stretched out on a line with its body, in the attitude made so 

 familiar by the Japanese decorators of our screens and fans. Dur- 



175 



