NORTH AMERICAN RAILS AND THEIR ALLIES. 11 



Perdido Bay, Ala. (Gutsell), and it also breeds at Houma, La. 

 (Wurzlow), and, as late as 1907, at Calcasieu Pass, La. (Kopman). 



The larger breeding area extends north to near Rondeau, Ont. 

 (Mcllwraith), Morrice, Mich. (Brownell), Vans Harbor, Mich. (Van 

 Winkle), Mille Lacs, Minn. (Trippe), Oak Point, Man. (Small), SheU 

 River, Man. (Calcutt), Big Quill Lake, Sask. (Barnes), Midvale, Mont. 

 (Bailey), 158-Mile House, B.C. (Brooks), and Strait of Juan de Fuca, 

 Wash. (Cooper). The species is definitely known to have nested 

 south to Chicago Junction, Ohio (Jones), Carroll County, Ind. 

 (Sterling), Decatur County, Iowa (Trippe), Alda, Nebr. (Powell), 

 Animas Park, Colo. (Drew), Mormon Lake, Ariz. (Mearns), Inde- 

 pendence Valley, Nev. (Hoffman), near Carson City, Nev. (Ridgway), 

 and Fort Crook, Cal. (Coues). Thus at the present time the two 

 breeding areas are separated by a district more than 600 miles wide 

 in which the species does not breed. It is probable that in the early 

 days of the settlement of the Mississippi Valley, when the species was 

 very abundant, it nested somewhat farther south, almost if not quite 

 to the Ohio River. Its numbers have decreased decidedly in the last 

 30 years, and it is now rare as a breeder in the southern half of the 

 above-defined breeding range, although within the last 10 years it 

 has nested in southern Michigan (1907), northern Indiana (1905), 

 northern Iowa (1907), northwestern Nebraska (1904), and central 

 Colorado (1903). 



Winter range. — The sandhill cranes that nest in Louisiana, Florida, 

 and Cuba are probably nonmigratory, while their number in Louisi- 

 ana is probably augmented during the winter by migrants from the 

 north. The species also winters along the whole coast of Texas 

 and south in Mexico to Hacienda Angostura, San Luis Potosi (Jouy), 

 Guanajuato (Duges), La Barca, Jalisco (Nelson and Goldman), and 

 Mazatlan, Sinaloa (Lawrence). The winter range includes southern 

 California north to Pasadena (Daggett) and, in the early days, to the 

 valleys of central California (Belding). Formerly a few wintered 

 north to Waverly, Miss. (Young), and Mer Rouge, La. (Hollister), 

 while 70 years ago many wintered along the Rio Grande north to 

 Socorro, N. Mex. 



Migration range. — The sandhill crane has been noted a few times 

 east of its breeding range, north to Beaumaris, Ont. (Fleming); 

 Brockport, N. Y. (Bruce); Lunenburg, Vt. (Perkins and Howe); 

 Wakefield, N. H. (Allen); Waynesburg, Pa. (Jacobs); Washington, 

 D. C. (Coues); and Waccamaw River, S. C. (Wayne). 



It seems probable that in colonial days the sandhill crane was not 

 uncommon as a migrant throughout most of eastern United States 

 from New York and southern New England southward. 



