THE WHOOPING CRANE. 
95 
covered in their retreats, they are observed wandering along 
the marshes and muddy flats near the sea-shore, in quest of 
reptiles, fish, and marine worms. Occasionally they are seen 
sailing along from place to place with a heavy, silent flight, 
elevated but little above the surface of the earth. Ever 
wary, and stealing from the view of all observers, these 
gaunt shades of something which constantly avoids the social 
light, impress the mind no less with curiosity than aversion, 
and it is surprising, that furtive and inharmonious as owls, 
they have not excited the prejudice of the superstitious. 
At times they utter a loud, clear, and piercing cry, that 
may be heard to a very considerable distance, and which, 
being not unaptly compared to the whoop or yell of the 
savages when rushing to battle, has conferred upon our bird 
his peculiar appellation. Other species of the genus possess 
also the same sonorous cry. When wounded, they attack 
those who approach them with considerable vigour, so much 
so as to have been known to dart their sharp and dagger-like 
bill through the incautious hand held out for their capture. 
Indeed, according to Dr. Richardson, they have sometimes 
driven the fowler fairly out of the field. 
ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES. 
Captain Amidas (the first Englishman who ever set foot 
in North America) thus graphically describes the clamour 
of the Whooping Cranes, on his landing on the isle of Wo- 
