ZOOLOGICAL 
driven from pillar 
to post for some 
days, and will be 
fortunate indeed if 
they escape with- 
out some injury. 
The safest way to 
establish a crane 
family is to place 
all of the intended 
members in the en- 
closure at the same 
time; then none 
can use the pres- 
tige of previous 
occupancy an 
excuse for tyran- 
ny. Brought to- 
gether in this 
abrupt manner, the birds will soon learn to tol- 
erate each other. 
* * ¥ * % 
The Order GrutrorMEs in - 
cludes, besides the true cranes, six 
groups of remarkable birds, such 
as the sun-bittern, the kagu and 
the seriema, which have been as- 
signed to this order in lieu of a 
better place. Their structures are 
confusing, and their relationships 
obscure. The birds with which 
we are to deal here are divided in- 
to nineteen species, which form 
the Sub-order Grues, and are cos- 
mopolitan, with the exception that 
none are found in South America. 
Asia is particularly fortunate in 
being the home of seven species. 
Some of these birds are fairly 
easy to obtain alive; but most of them are far 
from common in captivity, and a few are seen 
rarely, if ever. 
At present, nine species, all of which possess 
characters of interest, are included in the Zoo- 
logical Park collection. Several of these are 
members of the genus Grus, which includes the 
three species of North American cranes. 
The Sandhill Crane, (G. mewicana), still is 
fairly common on the plains of western North 
America, where there is little cover to shelter 
skulking enemies. This is the most numerous 
of our cranes and therefore the best known. It 
is rather small, as compared with most of its 
relatives, its length being about forty-six inches; 
its color is a uniform slaty gray, with the bare 
skin of the crown reddish. In captivity this 
crane becomes delightfully tame, and is very 
as 
WHOOPING CRANE. 
SOCIETY 
ASIATIC WHITE CRANE. 
BULLETIN. 721 
hardy and long-lived. This species nested in the 
Zoological Park in 1904 and 1905, but the eggs 
proved infertile on both occasions. 
The Little Brown Crane, (G. canadensis), is a 
very close relative of the sandhill, and is distin- 
guished by its smaller size, and shorter tarsus. 
It breeds through Arctic America and Siberia, 
migrating to the western United States and 
Mexico for the winter. The inaccessibility of 
its habitat explains its long confusion with the 
sandhill, and also accounts for its scarcity in 
captivity. The species is not represented in the 
collection at present. 
The third and rarest of the American Grues 
is the beautiful whooping crane, (G. americana). 
It is pure white in general color, but the pri- 
maries are black and the bare portions of the 
head are reddish, bordered posteriorly by a 
patch of blackish feathers. The secondaries 
are curved downward and arch gracefully over 
the tail. No doubt, the great 
searcity of this bird is due, in 
part, to reckless shooting, but it 
seems probable that the invasion 
of settlers into its breeding 
grounds in the great middle ter- 
ritories of Canada, and the in- 
creasing cultivation along its mi- 
gration route through the Mis- 
sissippi Valley, are hastening the 
inevitable extermination of this 
finest American birds. The nu- 
merical condition of a species in 
the wild state generally bears an 
exact ratio to the frequency with 
which it is met in confinement; it 
is probable that the number of 
whoopers in captivity could be 
counted on the fingers of one 
hand. It is unfortunate that this splendid 
crane cannot be in- 
duced to follow the 
example of the 
wood duck, which is 
willing to save it- 
self from extermi- 
nation by breeding 
freely in captivity. 
Most of the wood 
ducks seen in Amer- 
ican collections are 
birds bred in Eu- 
rope! But cranes 
of most species are 
bred only on rare 
occasions and then 
with great difficul- 
Continued on page 724 
PARADISE CRANE. 
