A Bird Named Lady—or Lyndon

During one of these early morning capers the youngster caught a toe in the bandage and fell heavily, suffering a compound fracture of the already injured wing. Once more the bones were set, and the durable bird, already accustomed to being wrapped like a mummy, faced another six weeks of bandages.

"If we can just suppress her exuberant spirits long enough to get that wing completely healed, we will have one more whooper to place in the ranks of those battling against extinction," Knoder said. Meanwhile, the Knoders' two children, Erik, 9, and Shawn, 11, have become very fond of the young crane and watch it for long periods. They have named it Lady Bird, but that is tentative. After an expert comes from Washington to determine the bird's sex the name may have to be changed to Lyndon Bird. However, the whole family is hoping it's a girl.

Being the only whooper on the refuge, Lady Bird has to be content with living in pens otherwise containing only common-variety sandhill cranes, which Knoder has hatched and reared in pilot experiments that will lead to the rearing of whoopers in captivity. If all goes well with the sandhill crane experiments, the Fish and Wildlife Service intends to take eggs from the nests of wild whoopers to start the program.

This part of the plan already has brought protests. The National Audubon Society, long active in protecting the whooping cranes, is flatly opposed to the taking of eggs from the nests, on the ground that nothing should be done that might endanger the meager wild population. Down in Florida, Alexander Sprunt IV, research director of the National Audubon Society, said they were not opposed to raising whoopers in captivity but were against taking eggs from the wild birds in Canada.

As if they were aware of the controversy over their welfare, the wild flock, which numbered 32 when it went north last spring, returned to the Texas coast this fall with 10 young, the greatest number they have brought back since officials started counting them in 1939. Had Lady Bird not run afoul of that burned tree she would have made No. 11. This brings the world whooping crane population to 50: 42 wild birds, seven in the New Orleans zoo and Lady Bird. The Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking to utilize eggs from those captives in its program but says more are needed.

Back in Colorado the young whooper, now four and a half feet tall, gazes out to the snow-covered mountains and continues to improve. The other day Knoder removed the bandage, and the wing, though droopy, appears to have knit well. Only time will tell whether Lady Bird will fly again. The success or failure of the artificial restoration program lies some years in the future, but things have not looked so good for the whooping crane for almost half a century.