(c) Identification of sandhill crane races: One of the most important 
considerations in permitting hunting of the sandhill crane has been the 
possible effect on the population of the relatively rare subspecies known 
as the greater sandhill crane. Preliminary studies of collected and banded 
cranes failed to disclose the presence in the eastern counties of New Mexico 
and western counties of Texas of a single example of the greater sandhill. 
Planning for the study of the experimental open season in eastern New 
Mexico in January 1961 included an analysis of measurements of birds passed 
through checking stations, as a further check on the presence of greater 
sandhills in that area. 
Forms for recording standard measurements in inches of checked birds 
were prepared by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish through con- 
sultation between William Huey of that Department and John Aldrich of the 
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. These measurements included bill 
(from posterior end of nostril to tip), wing, tail, tarsus, and mid-toe. 
On December 31, the day before the season opened, representatives of the 
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the Bureau of Sport Fisheries 
and Wildlife who were to participate in the joint study met in the office 
of the former agency in Roswell, New Mexico, for a final briefing on pro- 
cedures including the methods of measuring cranes. The forms were 
provided with illustrations of the various measurements, and these were 
discussed with technicians present by Huey and Aldrich. Measurements 
and weights were to be taken of all birds brought to the three checking 
stations in New Mexico (the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife fish 
hatchery at Dexter, the offices of the New Mexico Department of Game and 
Fish at Roswell, and the County Courthouse at Portales) and of those 
birds checked by workers in the field. Through advance publicity 
hunters were requested to bring their cranes to the checking stations. 
A total of 137 cranes were weighed and measured at these checking 
stations. During the first few days of the season a review of the 
methods employed by the checkers disclosed a lack of uniformity of 
methods of making measurements of wing and toe. Although efforts were- 
made at standardization, it is felt that the measurements of these two 
appendages were unreliable and are omitted from the analysis. | 
All measurement sheets were collected by the New Mexico Department, 
6f Game and Fish after the hunting season was over, and the figures were 
converted from inches to millimeters by that agency. A copy of the con- 
verted measurements was forwarded to Dr. Aldrich in Washington for analysis. 
Measurements of museum specimens of known breeding sandhill cranes 
of the greater and lesser races were tabulated (Tables 2 and 3). A 
t test of these measurements was run by Dr. Don Hayne, biometrician, 
Branch of Wildlife Research, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, 
to determine the p values for each measurement by race and sex. Each 
measurement of bill, tail, and tarsus of the cranes checked during the 
‘New Mexico hunting season (see Appendix) was compared with the p values 
to determine the percentage of probability that these birds belonged to 
one or the other breeding population represented by the museum specimens. 
8 
