84 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



General habits. — This heron is less gregarious than many 

 other species of heron, often nesting in isolated pairs or some- 

 times in small, rather scattered colonies. It breeds in tim- 

 bered swamps or river bottoms, placing its nest sometimes 

 at a considerable height in tall trees, again on low limbs over- 

 hanging the water or in bushes. 



Audubon states that he has observed it "searching for food 

 among the roots of mangroves at all hours of the day, and 

 that as assiduously as any diurnal bird, following the margins 

 of rivers, and seizing on both aquatic and terrestrial ani- 

 mals."t 



Food habits. — The food of this heron is said to consist prin- 

 cipally of crawfish, crabs, snails, lizards, snakes, small mam- 

 mals, and fish. Three stomachs examined from Alabama con- 

 tained remains of crawfish, one bird having taken 8, another 

 10 of these crustaceans. 



CRANES: Family Gruidae. 



WHOOPING CRANE; WHITE CRANE: Limnogeranus 

 americanus (Linnaeus) .J 



State records. — The whooping crane is now a very rare 

 bird, restricted in the breeding season to the interior of 

 Canada. Formerly it was not rare in migration in the eastern 

 United States and doubtless occurred regularly in Alabama. 

 Dr. Avery says of it: "Rare. Seen many years ago in the 

 Cypress SJough, Millwood."* Capt. W. M. Sprinkle states 

 that this bird was formerly common on Dauphin Island during 

 the winter. Golsan and Holt furnish the most recent record 

 — ^that of 5 or 6 birds seen near Prattville late in November 

 or early in December, 1899.** 



SANDHILL CRANE : Megalornis canadensis mexicana 



(Muller).tt 



State records. — The sandhill crane was formerly abundant 

 in eastern North America, breeding in Florida and from lUi- 



tAudubon, J. J., Ornith. Biog., vol. 4, pp. 290-291, 1838. 



iCrus americana of the A. O. XT. Check-list; for change of name see The Auk, vol. 

 S5, p. 204, 1918. 



»Amer. Field, vol. 24, p. 584, 1890. 



**The Auk, voL 31, p. 218, 1914. 



^{Grus mexicana of the A. O. U. Check-list; for change of name see The Auk, voU 

 38, p. 81, 1921. 



