WILD-BIRDS OF AMERICA.
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BY PROFESSOR FROST.
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THE WHOOPING CRANE. (Ardea Americana.)
Flocks of this bird are found during the autumn season in the Middle and Western States, and along the shores of the great lakes. In summer they resort in countless numbers to their breeding places, in the high northern latitudes, from which they are again driven at the return of the arctic winters. These migrations are regular, and extend from the vast plains of South America to the snows of the Arctic Circle.
While performing these immense journeys, the Cranes pass at such a height in the air as to be invisible, stopping occasionally at some favorite resting place in the line of their route. They are frequently seen at those periods in the marshes and rice plantations of the South, and in much smaller numbers near Cape May, where they are known by the name of Storks. At those times they attract much attention, principally of course from sportsmen; and a small number remain at the Cape all winter. Here they wander in the mud, searching for worms; or if on the wing they keep near the shore, sailing from place to place with a low, heavy flight, and uttering a loud piercing cry, which may be heard two miles. From this scream, and its occasional modulations, the bird has received its name. If wounded, the Whooping Crane boldly faces his pursuers, attacks dog or man, and has been known by one stroke to drive his bill through the gunner’s hand. It is, however, a difficult bird to shoot, on account of its shyness and vigilance. When a flock rises from the ground it ascends spirally to a great height, each member sending forth the piercing scream, which, uniting with the others, and ringing through the air, fills the beholder with a feeling approaching to terror.
The favorite localities of the Whooping Crane are impenetrable swamps, salt marshes, and small ponds or lakes near the sea. Here it hunts its prey, passes its social life, feeds and nourishes its young. Their nests are made of long grass, raised more than a foot above the ground, and usually hidden among unfrequented swamps. The eggs are two in number, of a pale blue color, spotted with brown. Thousands are reared every summer at these favorite haunts, the young setting out in the following season with the others, for the more genial climate of the South. This bird is frequently eaten, and is said to be palatable. Its common food is worms, insects, mice, moles, etc. It is the tallest bird indigenous to the United States, measuring four feet six inches in length, and when erect five feet in height. The bill is truly formidable, being six inches long, an inch and a half thick, straight and extremely sharp. The general color, excepting that of the head and the primaries, is pure white, many of the feathers on each side lengthening into graceful plumes, like those of the ostrich. The legs and thighs are black, thick and strong. The tail, in common with that of the species, is covered by a broad flag of plumage, which sets off the gracefulness of this truly graceful bird to full advantage.