470 THE FEATHEREl) TBIBES. 



space above tlic knee ; tliero are three anterior toes, the middle one united to the 

 external by a rudiment of a membrane, the interior toe diviilcd, posterior too articulated 

 higher on the tarsus. The wings are moderate ; the first quill shorter than the second, 

 which last is nearly as long as the third, and that is the longest ; the secondaries nearest 

 to the body are arched, or ver\' long and tubulate in some foreign species. 



In the greater part of the species, the trachea of the male forms circumvolutions upon 

 itself; in the other similar sinuosities occur in both sexes, which do not differ in external 

 appearance. They moult once in the year. 



Temminck states that the common crane inhabits the marshy plains of the Oriental 

 countries ; that it is common in the north, migrating regularly in spring and autumn ; 

 is rare in its passage in Holland, and only in very severe winters. Asia is one of the 

 tracts of country much frequented by it. Dr. Von Stebold notices it in his list of birds 

 killed in Japan. Mr. Selby states, that its equatorial migrations extend to India, Egypt, 

 and other warm parts of Asia and Africa, but that it retires in summer to the northern 

 and eastern parts of Europe to breed. 



The Prince of Musignano notes it as vcr}^ rare and accidental near Rome ; Willughby, 

 however, saw mauj' of them in the poulterers' shops in winter. But it is in England (liat 

 the alteration of the country by di'ainage and enclosure has caused, pci'haps, the most re- 

 markable absence of these fine birds. They were numerous in the times of our ancestors, 

 and highly esteemed by them, both as objects of sport, and as furnishing a dish fit for the 

 table of princes. By 25 Hen. VIII. c. II, confirmed by -3 and 4 Edw. VI. c. 7, twenty 

 pence was the forfeiture for each egg of the crane taken and destroyed. A^'illughby 

 s:iys, " They come often to us in England ; and in the fen countries in Lincolnshire and 

 Cambridgeshire there are great flocks of them ; but whether or no they breed in England 

 (as Aldrovandus writes, he was told by a certain Englishman, who said he had often seen 

 their young ones), I cannot certainly determine, either from ray own knowledge or from 

 the relation of any credible person." In Pennant's time he had come to the conclusion (hat 

 the cranes had forsaken our island. "A single bird," says he, " was killed near Cambridge, 

 about three years ago, and is the only instance I ever knew of the crane being seen in 

 this island in our time." Dr. Latham mentions only four instances, as occurring within 

 his memorj^, of the crane having been met with in England. Montagu and Dr. Fleming 

 mention a small flock that visited Zetland in 1807, and Mr. Selby received information of 

 one killed in Oxfordshire, in December, 18-30. Tlie crane can now be only regarded as 

 an accidental and rare visitant to our islands. 



Mudic justly remarks: "For popular purposes in Britisli ornithology, it is now of 

 little consequence to point out the relation of the crane to other birds, or to localities, for 

 it only appears as a straggler ; though, from the old statutes for the protection of its eggs, 

 it appears to have been well known, in former times, as a native bird breeding in the 

 country. The crane is a- bird of the wastes tliat lie on the edges of marshes, or are 

 subject to seasonal overflowings by rivers ; and as in England those places are now 

 generally enclosed, or otherwise divided, and imder culture, the country affords no fit 

 pjsture for the crane. The crane is not, however, a bird of solitude, for in flios.,' 

 snithern and eastern countries that suit its habits, it is said to build, not only in 

 inhabited places, but on the tops of houses." 



Willughby says, ' Tlie flesh is very savoury and well-tasted, not to say delicate;" 

 and indeed it seems to have been liighly prized in foriiur days. Pegge says, in lu's 

 "Form of Curcy :" "William \\\r. Concpieror was remai-kable for an immense paunch, 

 and withal was so exact, so nice and curious in his I'epasts, th;d when his prime favoui'ite, 

 "William I'ilz Osborne, who, as dapifcr or steward of liis houscliold, had the charge of the 

 curey, served liim with the flesh of a crane scarcely half roasted, the king was so highly 

 cxa.spcrated, that he liflcd up liis fist, and would have struck him, had not Eudo, who 



