FAMILY XVIIL 
HERO DII^ Illiger. 
GENUS XLII. — GRUS. 
201 . GRUS AMERICANA, BONAP. ARDEA AMERICANA, WILSON. 
WHOOPING CRANE. 
WILSON, PLATE LXIV. FIG, III. 
This is the tallest and most stately species of all the 
feathered tribes of the United States ; the watchful 
inhabitant of extensive salt marshes, desolate swamps, 
and open morasses in the neighbourhood of the sea. Its 
migrations are regular, and of the most extensive kind, 
reaching from the shores and inundated tracts of South 
America to the arctic circle. In these immense perio- 
dical journeys, they pass at such a prodigious height in 
the air as to be seldom observed. They have, however, 
their resting stages on the route to and from their usual 
breeding places, the regions of the north. A few some- 
times make their appearance in the marshes of Cape 
May, in December, particularly on and near Egg Island, 
where they are known by the name of storks. The 
younger birds are easily distinguished from the rest by 
the brownness of their plumage. Some linger in these 
marshes the whole winter, setting out north about the 
time the ice breaks up. During their stay, they wander 
along the marsh and muddy flats of the sea shore in 
search of marine worms, sailing occasionally from place 
to place, with a low and heavy flight, a little above the 
surface ; and have at such times a very formidable 
appearance. At times they utter a loud, clear, and 
piercing cry, which may be heard at the distance of two 
miles. They have also various modulations of this 
singular note, from the peculiarity of which they 
