CHAPTER II. 
WATER BIRDS, BY DR. G. SUCKLEY, U. S. A. 
ORDER V. 
GRALLATORES. 
Wading Birds. 
Family GRUIDAE. The Cranes. 
GRUS CANADENSIS, (Linn.) Tern m. 
Sand-hill Crane ; Blown Crane. 
Ardea canadensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1,1766, 234, No. 3.— Ghelin, I, 1788, 620.— Forster, Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 
382, No. 36. Severn river. 
Grus canadensis , “ Temminck.” Sw. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 273.— Nuttal, Man. II, 1834, 38.— Bon. Consp. II, 1855, 
98.— Gundlach, Cab. Jour. IV, 1856, 339.— Baird, Gen. Hep. Birds, 1858, 655. 
Grus pratensis, Bartram, Travels in Florida, 1791. 
Grus americana, Add. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835,441; pi. 261.— Ib. Birds Amer. V, 1842,188 ; pi. 314. (Supposed young.) 
Sp. Ch.—B ill compressed. Lower manible not as deep towards the tip as the upper. Gonys nearly straight; in the same 
line with the basal portion of bill. Commissure decidedly curving from beyond the middle to the tip, where it is even, not 
crenated. Color bluish gray ; the primaries and spurious quills dark plumbeous brown ; the shafts white. Cheeks and chin 
whitish. Entire top of head (bounded inferiorly by a line from commissure along the lower eyelid) bare of feathers, warty 
and granulated, thinly beset with short scattered black hairs. Feathers of occiput advancing forward in an obtuse angle ; 
the gray feathers along this point, and over the auricular region, tinged with plumbeous. Length, 48 ; wing, 22 ; tarsus, 10 ; 
commissure, 6. 
Hab. —Whole of western region of United States. Florida. 
Sand-hill cranes are very abundant on the Nisqually plains, Puget Sound, in autumn. 
They there commence to arrive from their summer breeding grounds about the last week in 
September, from which time until about the 10th of November, they are quite plentiful. After 
this they disappear ; probably retiring to warmer latitudes during the cold months. In the 
fall they are found on all the prairies near Fort Steilacoom, but are not indifferent to choice of 
certain spots by preference. These are generally old “stubble fields,” or spots of ground 
that have formerly been ploughed. They rise heavily and slowly from the ground upon being 
disturbed, and flying in circles at length acquire the desired elevation. When proceeding 
from one favorite resort to another, or when migrating, their flight is high, and not unfre- 
quently their approach is heralded before they are in sight by their incessant whooping clamor. 
While feeding they are generally silent. The flesh of this species is excellent for the table, 
and, as Mr. Nuttall observes, much resembling that of the swan in flavor. A young bird, 
probably of this species, was brought to me in Minnesota as early as June 15. In the vicinity 
of Fort Steilacoom only stragglers remain to breed. During their migrations they fly in com¬ 
panies of from three to four individuals to several dozens. I have rarely seen them in greater 
numbers together ; company after company succeeding each other, but rarely intermingling— 
keeping up, as it were, a distinct family organization.—S. 
The brown crane is a common summer resident, arriving at the Straits of De Fuca in large 
