192 THE VVHOOPING CRANE. 



ner of Wild Turkeys. In this situation they are sometimes shot by moon- 

 light. Those which resort to plantations, situated in the vicinity of large 

 marshes, covered with tall grasses, cat's tails, and other plants, spend the 

 night on some hillock, standing on one leg, the other being drawn under the 

 body, whilst the head is thrust beneath the broad feathers of the shoulder. 

 In returning towards the feeding grounds, they all emit their usual note, but 

 in a very low undertone, leaving their roost at an earlier or later hour, ac- 

 cording to the state of the weather. When it is cold and clear, they start 

 very early; but when warm and rainy, not until late in the morning. Their 

 motions toward night are determined by the same circumstances. They rise 

 easily from the ground after running a few steps, fly low for thirty or forty 

 yards, then rise in circles, crossing each other in their windings, like Vul- 

 tures, Ibises, and some other birds. If startled or shot at, they utter loud 

 and piercing cries. These cries, which I cannot compare to the sounds of 

 any instrument known to me, I have heard at the distance of three miles, at 

 the approach of spring, when the males were paying their addresses to the 

 females, or fighting among themselves. They may be in some degree repre- 

 sented by the syllables kewrr, keivrr, keivrooh; and strange and uncouth as 

 they are, they have always sounded delightful in my ear. 



In December 1S33, I sent my son to Spring Island, on the coast of Geor- 

 gia, to which these birds are in the habit of resorting every winter. Mr. 

 Hammond, the proprietor of this island, treated him with all the hospitality 

 for which the southern planters are celebrated. The Cranes, which were 

 plentiful, resorted to the sweet potato fields, digging up their produce as ex- 

 pertly as a troop of negroes. They walked carefully over the little heaps, 

 probed them in various parts in the manner of Woodcocks or Snipe, and 

 whenever they hit upon a potato, removed the soil, took out the root, and 

 devoured it in rather small pieces. In this manner they would search over 

 the whole field, which was two miles in length, and rather more than a quar- 

 ter of a mile in breadth, gleaning all the potatoes that had escaped the gather- 

 ers. They were so shy, however, that notwithstanding all the endeavours 

 of my son, who is a good hand at getting in upon game, as well as a good 

 shot, he only killed a young one, which was evidently of that year's brood, 

 it being yet almost reddish-brown, the long feathers of the rump just begin- 

 ning to shew, and the head yet covered with hair-like feathers to the mandi- 

 ble, and merely shewing between them the wrinkled skin so conspicuous in 

 the old birds. The specimen procured on Spring Island was carefully ex- 

 amined and described, and the skin is now in the British Museum in Lon- 

 don. Its flesh was tender and juicy, of a colour resembling that of young 

 venison, and afforded excellent eating. This I have always found to be the 

 case with young birds of this species, so long as they are in their brown 



