136 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



larger and have longer bills. The .Sandhill Crane reached Carle- 

 ton House April 28th, 1887, and Dr. G. M. Dawson recorded it at 

 Dufferin, Man., between April 2Sth and 30th, 1874. 



In The Auk for January, 1893, Mr.,E. Seton-Thompson speaks of 

 a specimen of this bird being killed on the Qu'Appelle River. On 

 September i6th, 1881, the writer shot a specimen near Fort Pelly 

 which was certainly the Little Brown Crane as it was much 

 smaller than the one taken on the prairie in 1872. More light is 

 needed on the distribution of the two species named Sandhill 

 Cranes by the people generally. Either this species or the next is 

 scattered over the country from the 4gth parallel to the Arctic 

 Ocean and is specially abundant in Alaska and British Columbia. 



Breeding Notes. — As a rule this species is not seen on the 

 Lower Yukon until about' May 7th or later, when the gi'ound is 

 half bare and the cranes can search every hillside for last year's 

 heath-berries, which, with an occasional lemming or mouse, con- 

 stitute their food at this season. The site for the nest is usually 

 on grassy flats, where the drier portions or the slight knolls 

 afford them suitable places. The spot usually has an unobstructed 

 view on all sides, and it is common to see the female's long neck 

 raised suspiciously at the appearance in the distance of anything 

 unusual. The nest is frequently a mere hollow in the ground, and 

 is commonly lined with more or less coarse grass-stems and 

 straws. In one instance a nest was found on a bare flat and was 

 lined with a layer of straws an inch deep, all of which must have 

 been brought some distance ; this is unusual, however. The two 

 eggs which this bird always lays, are generally deposited during 

 the last few days of May or early June. {Nelson.) 



museum specimen. 



One specimen purchased with the Holman collection in 1885. 



_206. Sandhill Crane. 



Grus mexicana (Mull.) Vieill. 1817. 



Mr. Mcllwraith in his Birds of Ontario gives two instances of 

 the breeding of this species in southwestern Ontario and men- 

 tions the killing of another specimen at Rondeau, Lake Erie, in 

 1869. 



