15 



GRUINJE. 



CRANES AND ALLIED SPECIES. 



The birds of which this family is composed are of large 

 size, slender form, and elegant proportions. They have some 

 external resemblance to Herons ; but their structure, espe- 

 cially that of their digestive organs, their general habits, and 

 food, indicate little affinity to those birds, and show that 

 they claim a much closer alliance to the Ostriches on the one 

 hand, and the Plovers on the other. They may be briefly 

 characterized — their extreme scarcity with us rendering it 

 inexpedient to present an extended description — as having 

 the body large and compressed ; the neck long and slender ; 

 the head rather small and oblong ; the bill about the length 

 of the head, straight, depressed at the base, compressed toward 

 the end, the nasal sinuses extending to half its length, the 

 tip rather obtuse ; the nostrils subbasal, lateral, oblong, or 

 roundish. The legs are long and slender ; the tibia? bare 

 at the lower part; the tarsus somewhat compressed, ante- 

 riorly scutellate ; the toes rather long, the hind toe short and 

 somewhat elevated ; the claws obtuse. The plumage is full, 

 and rather compact ; most of the species are ornamented with 

 elongated plumes on the fore part of the neck, or the hind 

 part of the back ; the wings are broad and convex, the inner 

 secondaries elongated and decurved ; the tail generally short 

 and rounded. 



These stately and handsome birds are chiefly inhabitants 

 of warm climates, but some of them perform long migrations. 

 They feed on insects, mollusca, reptiles, seeds, and other 



