Antigone antigone (not Ardea antigone Linnæus) Sharpe, Cat. Birds
Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 264.
Antigone sharpii Blanford, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1895), 5, 6.
Antigone sharpei Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 178; Oates,
Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 94; McGregor, Bull. Philippine
Mus. (1904), 4, 11, pl. 2; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 31.
Tipol, Luzon.
Luzon (McGregor, Worcester). Burma, Cochin China, and Malay
Peninsula.
Adult.--Nearly uniform pearl-gray, lighter on neck; head and neck
nearly naked to 100 mm. or more below anterior border of ear-coverts;
a few gray feathers on chin and ear-coverts; a few scattered black
hair-like feathers on upper throat and its sides.
An adult female taken in Nueva Ecija Province, Luzon, in September,
yields the following data: Legs rose-pink, brown along the tarsi; nails
blackish; most of bill and forehead pale dirty green; tip of bill gray;
iris yellow; papillose parts of head and neck red, darker behind the
ear-coverts. Weight, 5 kilos. Length, 1,270; extent, 2,200; wing, 565;
tail, 220; culmen from base, 178; bill from front margin of nostril,
103; tarsus, 275; middle toe with claw, 117; hind toe with claw,
24. Another specimen from northern Luzon measures; culmen from base,
160; bill from nostril, 92; tarsus, 280; middle toe with claw, 107.
Sharpe's crane is abundant in the vicinity of Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija
Province, Luzon. When I observed them in September, 1908, they were
feeding in pairs and frequenting a grassy plain. Two badly decayed
eggs were taken from a nest which consisted of a little grass arranged
on the ground in circular form. The eggs are white marked with a few
lavender spots and dented with numerous, small, elongated pits. The
surface is hard and smooth, very slightly glossy, and with a few
small lumps about the larger end. When held toward the light the
shell appears through the hole to be dark green. These eggs measure
91.5 by 63 and 97.5 by 64.6.
This species has been reported from the Candaba Swamp in central Luzon
and Worcester found it abundant in northern Luzon. He says: "I saw
Antigone sharpei in large numbers in Cagayan and Isabela during my
recent trip, 1906, through those provinces. I am informed that these
birds nest on the ground in May, contenting themselves with scraping
together and flattening down a little grass on which to deposit their
eggs. About August they lose their long wing-feathers and when in
this condition can rise but a few feet from the ground. The people
of Isabela then pursue them on horseback and take them with lassoes,
although according to the statements of the hunters the birds, aided
by their wings, run about as fast as deer."
Order ARDEIFORMES.