16 GRUINjE. CRANES, &c. 



vegetable productions. They nestle on the ground, and lay 

 few eggs. The young, unlike those of the Herons, are active 

 from the first. 



SYNOPSIS OF THE BRITISH GENERA AND SPECIES. 



GENTS I. GItUS. CRANE. 



Bill longer than the head, stout, straight, tapering, com- 

 pressed, obtusely pointed. Tarsus very long, slender, with 

 numerous curved, anterior scutella ; toes rather short. Wings 

 very large, the inner secondaries much elongated, and curved 

 downwards ; tail short, rounded, of twelve feathers. 



1. Grus cinerea, Grey Crane. Fore part of the head 

 and loral spaces bare, bluish black ; crown bare, bright red ; 

 plumage ash-grey ; a band of dull white from the eye down 

 the side of the neck. 



