. The Canadian field-naturalist. 358 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 104 vegetation. Island/hummock nests were generally at sites dominated by Dwarf Birch, willow, and honeysuckle {Lonicera sp.) and variable numbers of live or dead Tamarack and Black Spruce. These nests were usually built on hummocks of moss in clumps of Dwarf Birch or willow, and were constructed primarily of twigs of Dwarf Birch or willow and often lined with pieces of sedge or bulrush (Figures 2, 3). In contrast, nests in emergent vegetation (Figure 4) were generally located at wetter sites, in stands of sedges, bulrushe
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 358 The Canadian Field-Naturalist Vol. 104 vegetation. Island/hummock nests were generally at sites dominated by Dwarf Birch, willow, and honeysuckle {Lonicera sp.) and variable numbers of live or dead Tamarack and Black Spruce. These nests were usually built on hummocks of moss in clumps of Dwarf Birch or willow, and were constructed primarily of twigs of Dwarf Birch or willow and often lined with pieces of sedge or bulrush (Figures 2, 3). In contrast, nests in emergent vegetation (Figure 4) were generally located at wetter sites, in stands of sedges, bulrushes, and, in two instances, cattails. These nests were mounds of vegetation built in such a way as to elevate the eggs above the water level; thus, they often contained more nesting material than nests built on islands or hummocks. Of 51 crane nests found in our study area, 47 (92%) occurred in fen muskegs (Table 2). This proportion of occurrence was significantly higher than expected based on the known areas of fen and bog muskegs, forested peatlands, and mineral soils we surveyed in the study area (x- = 228, p < ). Four different complexes of organic soils accounted for all of the 47 nests found in fen muskegs (Table 3). These four — Crane, Stead, Cayer, and Macawber — com- prised less than 15% of the study area and only 34% of the total muskeg acreage, yet held 92% of all nests found and 96% of all nests found in muskegs. Similarly, 91 of 106 (86%) observations of crane families with chicks, significantly more than expected (x^ = 383, p<), occurred in fen muskegs (Table 2). The same four organic soil complexes characterized all of the fens where crane chicks occurred (Table 3). Only two nests were found in bog muskegs, although bogs comprised 22% of the study area (Table 2) and 57% of the total open muskeg acreage (Table 3). Six observations of crane chicks occurred in bog muskegs, characterized by the Julius, Molson, and Kilkenny soil complexes (Table 3). On
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