The Sandhill Cranes 



sigh at times amid the fragrant and inevitable orange-blossoms for the 

 Sturm und Drang of a grosser passion. To such comes the multitudinous 

 croak of the passing cranes as a blessed relief. "Krr — kr — r, kr — r, kr — oo, 

 Kr — r, kr — r, kr — r, kr — oo," shout these winged barbarians as their co- 

 horts press northward. "Come with us," they challenge, "flee these 

 soft enticements of the Southland. We will show you how to mock the 

 gnashing teeth of retreating winter. Come where bitter winds provoke 

 hot blood. Come where the owl and the lemming hold sway over vast 

 tundras. Come where Aurora paints the sky with unimaginable splendors. 

 Come — O ye gods! — where man or bird may breathe without the rebuke 

 of jostling elbows." Kr — r, kr — r, kr — r, kr — r — oo. Ooaye! It is harsh, 

 discordant, and all that. But it comes with the authority of bagpipes, 

 or bugles. Our herts are wi' ye, birdies! 



It is only within comparatively recent years that the Little Brown 

 Crane has emerged to consciousness as the breeding species of Alaska 

 and the British possessions, as contrasted with the less abundant and more 

 widely scattered Sandhill Crane of the northern states and a little beyond. 

 In the West, during migrations and in winter, canadensis probably out- 

 numbers the larger species three to one, and in California ten to one. 

 Early references to two species are hopelessly involved, and even to this 

 day there are few, however expert, who will claim to be able to distinguish 

 canadensis from mexicanns afield. As to the past, we can only surmise 

 that any unseasonable slaughter has been at the expense of resident 

 mexicanus, while market-hunting in season has been chiefly concerned 

 with canadensis. 



The Little Brown Crane still passes in considerable numbers en route 

 to the unsettled country adjacent to the head of the Gulf of California, 

 or it deploys over the cattle ranges of western Kern, Kings, and Fresno 

 counties. Comparatively little is known of their behavior, even in win- 

 ter, for the birds are precisely where men are not — if there are any such 

 places left — and the lines of demarcation between cranes and men are no 

 longer measured by the range of shot gun but by the range of high power 

 rifles. Thus does man's advancement in the mechanical arts make for 

 brotherhood and contentment among the children of nature. Aber nit. 



No. 301a Sandhill Crane 



A. O. U. No. 206. Grus canadensis mexicanus (Miiller). 



Synonyms. — Southern Sandhill Crane. Brown Crane. Mexican Brown 

 Crane. 



Description. — Exactly like preceding species but larger. Length up to 1143 

 (45.00); wing 558.8 (22.00); tail 203.2 (8.00); bill 139.7 (5.50); depth at base 26.7 

 (1.05); tarsus 260.6 (10.25); middle toe and claw 10 1.6 (4.00). 



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