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T H E W H O O P I N G C R A NK
GRUS AMERICANA, TEMM.
PLATE CCXXVI. MALE.
THE variegated foliage of the woods indicates that the latter days of
October have arrived; gloomy clouds spread over the heavens; the fierce
blasts of the north, as if glad to escape from the dreary regions of their
nativity, sport in dreadful revelry among the forests and glades. Showers
of sleet and snow descend at intervals, and the careful husbandman gathers
his flocks, to drive them to a place of shelter. The traveller gladly
accepts the welcome of the forester, and as he seats himself by the blazing
fire, looks with pleasure on the spinning wheels of the industrious inmates.
The lumberer prepares to set out on his long voyage, the trapper
seeks the retreats of the industrious beaver, and the red Indian is making
arrangements for his winter hunts. The Ducks and Geese have already
reached the waters of the western ponds; here a Swan or two is seen
following in their train, and as the observer of nature stands watching
the appearances and events of this season of change, he hears from on
high the notes of the swiftly travelling but unseen Whooping Crane.
Suddenly the turbid atmosphere clears, and now he can perceive the
passing birds. Gradually they descend, dress their extended lines, and
prepare to alight on the earth. With necks outstretched, and long bony
legs extended behind, they proceed supported by wings white as the snow
but tipped with jet, until arriving over the great savannah they wheel
their circling flight, and slowly approach the ground, on which with halfclosed
wings, and outstretched feet they alight, running along for a few
steps to break the force of their descent.
Reader, see the majestic bird shake its feathers, and again arrange
them in order. Proud of its beautiful form, and prouder still of its
power of flight, it stalks over the withering grasses with all the majesty
of a gallant chief. With long and measured steps he moves along, his
head erect, his eye glistening with delight. His great journey is accomplished,
and being well acquainted with a country which has often been
visited by him, he at once commences his winter avocations.
WHOOPING CRANE. 203
The Whooping Crane reaches the Western Country about the middle
of October, or the beginning of November, in flocks of twenty or
thirty individuals, sometimes of twice or thrice that number, the young
by themselves, but closely followed by their parents. They spread from
Illinois over Kentucky, and all the intermediate States, until they reach
the Carolinas on the southern coast, the Floridas, Louisiana, and the
countries bordering on Mexico, in all of which they spend the winter,
seldom returning northward until about the middle of April, or towards
the beginning of May. They are seen on the edges of large ponds supplied
with rank herbage, on fields or savannahs, now in swampy woods,
and again on extensive marshes. The interior of the country, and the
neighbourhood of the sea shores, suit them equally well, so long as the
temperature is sufficiently high. In the Middle States, it is very seldom
indeed that they are seen; and to the eastward of these countries they are
unknown; for all their migrations are performed far inland, and thus
they leave and return to the northern retreats where, it is said, they breed
and spend the summer. While migrating they appear to travel both by
night and by day, and I have frequently heard them at the former, and
seen them at the latter time, as they were proceeding toward their destination.
Whether the weather be calm or tempestuous, it makes no difference
to them, their power of flight being such as to render them regardless
of the winds. Nay I have observed them urging their way during
very heavy gales, shifting from high to low in the air with remarkable
dexterity. The members of a flock sometimes arrange themselves in
the form of an acute-angled triangle; sometimes they move in a long
line; again they mingle together without order, or form an extended
front; but in whatever manner they advance, each bird sounds his loud
note in succession, and on all occasions of alarm these birds manifest the
same habit. Wrhile with us they are also always met with in flocks
But now, Reader, allow me to refer to my journals, whence I shall extract
some circumstances relative to this majestic bird, which I hope you
will find not uninteresting.
Louisville, State of Kentucky, March 1810.—I had the gratification
of taking ALEXANDER WILSON to some ponds within a few miles of
town, and of shewing him many birds of this species, of which he had
not previously seen any other than stuffed specimens. I told him that
the white birds were the adults, and that the grey ones were the young.
WILSON, in his article on the Whooping Crane, has alluded to this, but,