GrRUIDiE — THE CRANES — GRUS. 
407 
inches long in the stomach of one of this species. He describes the cries uttered by 
this bird as loud and piercing — so loud that they might be heard at the distance of 
three miles. The flesh of the young bird he speaks of as being tender and juicy, 
while in the old birds it becomes very dark and tough, and is unfit for the table. In 
captivity this Crane is extremely gentle, and will feed freely on grain and other 
vegetable substances. 
Mr. Audubon kept one, while he Avas in Boston, which had been taken, while 
young, on the Florida coast, a wing having been fractured and afterward ampu- 
tated. This bird was very gentle, and would suffer him to caress it Avith the hand. 
It searched the Avood-pile for Avorms and grubs, watched with the patience of a cat 
for mice, and would swalloAV them whole. It also fed on corn and garbage from the 
kitchen. At times it would look upward, and, as if calling to some acquaintance 
passing high in the air, would cry aloud. It Avas naturally suspicious of some lurk- 
ing danger; anti sometimes, on very slight occasion, would manifest a sudden and 
causeless alarm, as if some dreaded enemy were at hand. 
This bird has never been detected on the Pacific coast, or Avest of the Great Plains ; 
and as G. canadensis mexicana is common there, this of itself is sufficient evidence 
of the difference of the two species. Mr. Kennicott met with it at Fort Resolution, 
May 20, and procured a specimen. A nest of this species, containing tAvo eggs, was 
found near Salt River, not far from Fort Resolution, Great Slave Lake, in 1864. 
The eggs (Smithsonian Institution, jSTo. 9288) measure, one 3.80 inches by 2.60, the 
other 3.70 inches by 2.50. Their ground-color is a deep grayish White, Avith a wash- 
ing of sepia, marked sparsely, except at the larger end, Avith bold patches of dark 
rusty sepia-brown, and more obscure blotches of an opaque sepia. These last are 
thinly scattered over nearly the Avhole egg. At the extreme portion of the obtuse 
end these markings are far more numerous, become confluent, and form an irregular 
crown. The eggs are oval in shape, and a little more rounded at one end than at 
the other. 
Grus canadensis. 
a. canadensis. THE LITTLE BROWN CRANE. 
Ardea canadensis, Linn. ed. 10, 1. 1758, 141 ; ed. 12, 1766, 234 (based on Edwards, I. 33 ; Briss. 
V. 385). — Forst. Philos. Jour. LXII. 1772, 409 (Severn R. ). 
Grus canadensis, Temm. Man. I. 1820, p. c. — Sabine, Franklin’s Jour. 685. — Richards, Parry’s 
Second Voy. 353. — Sw. & Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 373. — Bonap. Consp. I. 1850, 98. — Scl. 
Ibis, 1860, 418 (Hudson’s Bay). — Blakist. Ibis, 1863, 128 (int. Brit. Am.). — Dale & Bannist. 
Trans. Chicago Acad. I. 1869, 289 (St. Michael’s, Alaska). — Tacz. J. f. O. 1873, 112 (N. E. 
Siberia). — Ooues, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 669. 
Grus fusca (part), Vieill. FTouv. Diet. XIII. 1817, 558 (includes both forms). 
Grus poliophcea, Wagl. Syst. Av. 1827, Grus, sp. 7 (based on Edwards). 
Grus f rater cuius, Cass, in Baird’s B. FT. Am. 1858, 656 (=juv. ; New Mexico !). — Baird, Cat. N. 
Ain. B. 1859, no. 480. — Allen, Bull. N. O. C., V. 1880, 123. — Ridgw. ib. 187 ; Nom. N. Am. 
B. 1881, no. 584. 
Grus fratercula, Tacz. Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1876, 246. 
Blue Crane, Forst. 1. c. 
Brown Crane, Penn. Arct. Zool. II. 1785, 443. — Lath. Synop. III. 1785, 43. 
Little Brown Crane, Ridgw. 1. c. 
Northern Sandhill Crane, Codes, 1. c. 
0. mexicana. THE SANDHILL CRANE. 
Ardea (grus) mexicana, Muller, S. N. Suppl. 1776, 110 (ex Briss. V. 380). 
Ardea canadensis, var. /3, Lath. Ind. Orn. II. 1790, 676 (Mexico). 
Grus pratensis, Bartr. Travels, 1791, 144, 218 (descr. ). — Coues, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 670. 
