i6: 



Biiiish Biids. 



It still nests in Holland, and in many places in Central and Southern Europe to 

 Central Asia. The species breeds in the low-land marshes near the sea, whence it 

 sallies out to procure its food on the mud flats ; this consists of small Crustacea and 

 insects. In certain places it breeds in trees, but in marshy places the nest is 

 composed ot reeds. The eggs are four or five in number, chalky-white, with a few 

 spots and streaks of reddish brown, and occasionally some underlying blotches of 

 purplish-brown ; they measure from a little more than two-and-a-half to three inches. 



THE 



COMMON CRANE. 



\Grxis gnis.) 



Cranes d i f f e r 

 from Herons in hav- 

 ing what is called 

 a schizognathous or 

 split palate, and the 

 nasal groove ex- 

 tends a long way 

 down the bill, reach- 

 ing to more than 

 half the length of 

 the latter. The Com- 

 mon Crane is a dark 

 grey bird, with a bare 

 red crown ; the inner 

 secondaries are 

 loose and ornamen- 

 tal, and form droop- 

 ing plumes. The 

 Cranes also difl'er 

 from the Herons in 

 their nestlings, 

 which are not hatched naked and helpless, but are covered with down, and are able to 

 shift for themselves in a few hours. Three hundred years ago the Crane used to breed 

 in the fen-lands of England, and its fossil remains have been found in Ireland ; now it 

 is only an occasional visitor. It breeds, however, in the marshes of the greater part of 

 Europe, making a nest of a large size among the rushes in the swamps. The eggs are 

 two or three in number, brown or stone-grey, with reddish spots and blotches, relieved 

 by underlying spots of dull purplish grey ; their length is from three-and-a-half to four- 

 and-a-quarter inches. The note of the Crane is clear and trumpet-like, and, as in some 

 of the Swans, the trachea enters the bony walls of the breast-bone and is convoluted. 



The Common Crane. 



The Demoiselle Crane. 



