WHOOPING CRANE. 549 
Storks. . The younger birds are easily distinguished from the rest by 
the brownness of their plumage. Some linger in these marshes the 
whole winter, setting out north about the time the ice breaks up. Dur- 
ing their stay, they wander along the marsh and muddy flats of the 
sea-shore in search of marine worms, sailing occasionally from place 
to place, with a low and heavy flight, a little above the surface; and 
have at such times avery formidable appearance. At times they utter 
a loud, clear, and piercing cry, which may be heard at the distance of 
two miles. They have also various modulations of this singular note, 
from the peculiarity of which they derive their name. When wounded, 
they attack the gunner, or his dog, with great resolution; and have 
becn known to drive their sharp and formidable ‘bill, at one stroke 
through a man’s hand. * 
During winter, they are frequently seen in the low grounds and rice 
plantations of the Southern States, in search of grain and inseets. 
On the 10th of February, I met with several near the Waccamau River, 
in South Carolina; I also saw a flock at the ponds near Louisville, 
Kentucky, on the 20th of March. They are extremely shy and vigi- 
lant, so that it is with the greatest difficulty they ‘can be shot. They 
sometimes rise in the air spirally to a great height, the mingled noise 
of their screaming, even when they are almost beyond the reach of 
sight, resembling that of a pack of hounds in full cry. On these oc- 
casions, they fly around in large circles, as if reconnoitring the coun- 
try to a vast extent for a fresh quarter to feed in. Their flesh is said 
to be well tasted, nowise savoring of fish. They swallow mice, moles, 
rats, &c., with great avidity. They build their nests on the eround, 
in tussocks of long grass, amidst solitary swamps, raise it to more than 
a foot in height, and lay two pale blue eggs, spotted with brown. 
These are much larger, and of a more lengthened form than those of 
the Common Hen, : : : 
‘The Cranes are distinguished from the other families of their genus 
by the comparative baldness of their heads, the broad flag of plumage 
projecting over the tail, and in general by their superior size. They 
also differ in their internal organization from all the rest of the Heron 
tribe, particularly in the conformation of the windpipe, which enters 
the breast-bone in a cavity fitted to receive it, and after several turns 
goes out again at the same place, and thence descends to the lungs. 
Unlike the Herons, they have not the inner side of the middle claw 
pectinated, and, in this species at least, the hind toe is short, scarcely 
reaching the ground. ; 
The vast marshy flats of Siberia are inhabited by a Crane very 
much resembling the present, with the exception of the bill and legs 
being red; like those of the present, the year-old birds are said also 
to be tawny. 
It is highly probable that the species described by naturalists as the 
Brown Crane (Ardea Canadensis) is nothing more than the young of 
the Whooping Crane, their descriptions exactly corresponding with 
the latter. In a flock of six or eight, three or four are usually of that 
tawny or reddish brown tint on the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts ; 
but are evidently yearlings of the Whooping Crane, and differ in 
‘ nothing but in that and size from the others. They are generally five 
or six inches shorter, and the primaries are of a brownish cast. 
