THE SANDHILL CRANE. 461 



No. 207. 



SANDHILL CRANE. 



A. O. U. No. 206. Qrus mexicana (Mull). 



Synonyms. — Southern Sandhili, Crane; Brown Crane. 



Description. — Exactly like preceding species, but larger. Length about 

 45.00 (1143.) ; wing 22.00 (558.8) ; tail 8.00 (203.2) ; bill 5.50 (139.7) ; depth at 

 base 1.05 (26.7) ; tarsus 10.25 (260.4) ; middle toe and claw 4.00 (101.6). 



Recognition Marks. — Eagle size; slaty gray or brownish color; crane pro- 

 portions of bill, neck, and tarsus ; considerably larger than the preceding species. 



Nest, a platform of roots, reeds, weed-stalks etc., raised slightly above water 

 or mud of swamp. Eggs, 2, grayish olive or drab, spotted and blotched distinctly 

 and obscurely with reddish brown. Av. size 4.00 x 2.45 (101.6 x 62.2). 



General Range. — Southern half of North America; rare near the Atlantic 

 Coast, except in Georgia and Florida. 



Range in Ohio.— Not common migrant and rare resident. Breeds sparingly 

 in the northern part of the state. 



THE Sandhill Crane is found in great numbers in northern Ohio, espe- 

 cially in Huron and adjoining counties. They have been known to breed 

 in this section for a number of years. In 1895, I first saw the Sandhill Crane 

 in what is known as the New Haven marsh, situated within a few miles of 

 Chicago Junction. This was on the 15th of April, and I was informed by 

 people living in the neighborhood that the Crane usually returned between 

 the 15th of March and the ist of April. They are, at this time, seen in .small 

 flocks varying in number from three to nine; however, four or five is the usual 

 number. 



In the following year ('96), in the second week of April, I again observed 

 a pair of these birds, at about the same place. A young man living in the 

 neighborhood collected, in the latter part of May, a set of the Sandhill 

 Crane's eggs and placed them under a setting hen. In a few days they 

 hatched, but he was only able to raise one of the birds; this became quite 

 a pet, and when I saw it in the autumn of that year it was very large and 

 seemed to govern everything in the hennery. The bird was quite tame and 

 would follow one around if there was any prospect of its receiving food. 

 The following year, 1897, I again visited this marsh, on the 15th of May, 

 intending to find a nest of this bird if possible. I was rewarded by finding 

 two nests within one-fourth of a mile of each other. They were placed in 

 the open, upon a portion of the marsh land that had been under cultivation 

 for a few years prior to my visit, but had again grown up in weeds. 



The first nest was built in a small hollow in the ground and made of a 

 few roots and weeds and some small bits of grass. These eggs were per- 



