CRANES 



'^205) Qrus canadensis 



{Linn.) 



LITTLE BROWN CRANE. 

 Similar to the next and most com- 

 mon species, but smaller and browner. 

 Breeds from Hudson Bay to Alaska; 

 winters from Texas to Ariz. Very 

 rare east of the Miss. River. L., 

 36.00; W., 18.50; B., 4.00. 



(206) Qrus mexicana 



(UiUler) 



SANDHILL CRANE; COM- 

 INION BROWN CRANE. Plumage 

 as shown; feathers of occiput ex- 

 tending forward in a point on the 

 bare, red skin of the head. Young 

 birds have the head fully feathered 

 and are more rusty. L., 46.00; W., 

 22.00; T., g.oo; Tar., 10.00; B., 5.50. 



Range — Resident in Fla. and La. 

 Breeds also in interior Canada. 



Family GRUID^. Cranes 



Our cranes are large birds, as large or larger than herons, 

 which they resemble in form. They differ externally, how- 

 ever, in the shape of the bill, in the more or less bald head, 

 in having closer, firmer plumage, and in the elevation of the 

 hind toe above the level of the front ones. 



The WHOOPING CRANE is the largest of our cranes— 

 a truly magnificent creature standing as tall as a good-sized 

 boy, and with a plumage of immaculate white, save for the 

 outer feathers of the enormous wings, which have an expanse 

 of nearly eight feet. Except during migrations, when several 

 families unite for the southern journey, they are solitary 

 wanderers over marsh and plain. Living in open country, 

 where their stature enables them to see for great distances, 

 they are naturally very wary, to which fact and the added 

 one that they repair to northern fur countries to breed, they 

 probably owe their continued existence. 



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