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"Coiling of the windpipe in the sternum of Grus canadensis. Sandhill Crane." Elliot Coues, 1884

Sandhill Crane Windpipe

"Coiling of the windpipe in the sternum of Grus canadensis. Sandhill Crane." Elliot Coues, 1884

"Very generally, in cranes and swans, the trachea enters the keel of the sternum, which is excavated to receive it, and where it forms one or more coils before emerging to pass to the lungs. This curious winding is carried to the extreme in our Grus americanus, the whoopong crane, in which the wind-pipe is about as long as the whole bird, and about half of it - over two feet of it! - is coiled away in the breast-bone." Elliot Coues

Whooping Crane Windpipe

"Very generally, in cranes and swans, the trachea enters the keel of the sternum, which is excavated…

"a, an inch of trachea, contracted to the utmost, the rings looking like alternating half-rings; b, the same, stretched to two inches, the rings evidently complete, with intervening membrane." Elliot Coues, 1884

Bird Trachea

"a, an inch of trachea, contracted to the utmost, the rings looking like alternating half-rings; b,…