CRANES: SANDHILL CRANE 
239 
into the air and strike out with his long legs. . . After a little of this, 
the Crane would stalk solemnly away on his long legs, with the Ptar¬ 
migan in hot pursuit, but badly put to it to keep up with his enemy ' 1 
(1926, p. 303). 
SANDHILL CRANE: Grus mexicana (Muller) 
Plate 22 
Description. — Length: 40-48 inches, wing 21-22.5, bill 5.1-6, tarsus 9.9-10.6. 
Adults: Bare red skin from bill to crown rough and minutely warty, with scattered 
black bristles; plumage brownish gray, with more or less silvery and buff}*; iris crimson 
or orange, bill blackish, legs and feet black. Young in juvenal plumage: Head entirely 
feathered, plumage similar to adult but lighter and browner, varied with rusty brown. 
Comparisons. —The variation in measurements should be considered in naming 
the Sandhill and Little Brown Cranes. From the herons the cranes can be dis¬ 
tinguished by uniform coloration, and in flight by outstretched neck and feet. They 
are also “commonly seen on the high, dry uplands and cultivated fields which the 
herons never frequent” (Taverner). 
Range. —Formerly bred from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Mani¬ 
toba, Minnesota, and Ontario south to Ohio, Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, 
and California. Now is only known to breed in southern Canada, Minnesota, and 
the western and Rocky Mountain States south to northern Colorado, and (two 
records) California (Condor, 1927, p. 118). Winters in California, Arizona, and 
Texas south to Mexico and probably to Yucatan. 
State Records. —When the early exploring expeditions visited New Mexico 
some sixty years ago, they found the Sandhill Crane an abundant migrant both spring 
and fall. In 1846 it was common in migration on September 5 near Sandia, 5 miles 
south of Bernalillo; September 29 near Albuquerque (Emory); and October 9 near 
Santa Fe (Abort); it was common the next week near Albuquerque and in early 
November was noted near Socorro, and was still common as late as December 16. 
It was even more common four years later, for Col. McCall says: “This crane I found 
on the Rio Grande from Santa Fe to El Paso in October; but more particularly be¬ 
tween Albuquerque and Socorro where, for 50 miles, the land appeared to be covered 
.with them. They filled the cornfields and alighted close to the houses, never being 
disturbed by the gun” (1851, p. 223). In 1853 the crane was seen on the Zuni 
(Woodhouse). It was still common in 1874, when Mr. HenBhaw visited the region. 
It is probable that many if not the majority of these birds spent the entire winter in 
New Mexico, as numbers of their fellows did as far north even as southern Colorado. 
Many flocks were still present in April, 1876, near Belen. 
The interval since 1876 has witnessed a sad depletion in the ranks of the Sandhill 
Crane. Five birds were seen near Albuquerque October 7, 1900 (Birtwell); two 
small flocks were recorded October 22, 1904, near Espanola (Gaut); a pair were 
seen near Reservation Ranch, on that White Mountain Apache Reservation, Ari¬ 
zona, in July, 1910, and from the date were apparently breeding there (Leopold); on 
the Carlsbad Bird Reserve a few flocks were noted March 6, 1914; two flocks were 
seen going north, 31 in one flock, March 13; and about 200 were estimated March 24 
and 25 (Cooper); 40-50 were noted wintering 1914-15 and a few winter yearly 
(Willett). On the Rio Grande near Albuquerque two flocks were seen March 21, 
1914 (Cooper). [A few flocks pass southward generally about October 1 (Leopold, 
1919).]—W. W. Cooke. 
