CRANE 



45 



course is followed here, except that the name Grallze is adopted in 

 place of the alternative term. It should be added that the cranes and 

 the bustards differ from one another almost or quite as much as each 

 does from the rails, and consequently that it is practically impossible 

 to give a definition, based on easily apparent characters, which will 

 differentiate the GralL-e as a whole from the Fulicaria;. Taking the 

 cranes and their immedi- 

 ate allies (two American 

 families with which we 

 have no concern here) 

 first, we find that they 

 differ from the rails by 

 the nostrils having the 

 form of long narrow slits, 

 and by the absence ot 

 any notch in the lower 

 border of the breastbone. 

 On the other hand, they 

 resemble the former 

 group in their tufted oil- 

 gland and active, down- 

 clad young. 



The cranes them- 

 selves, constituting the 

 family Gruidae, are tall 

 and stately birds, gener- 

 ally grey or white in 

 colour, with long beaks, 

 necks, and legs, the nos- 

 trils opening in a long 

 deep depression, twelve 

 tail-feathers, small after- crane. 



shafts to the feathers, 



long bare patches on the sides of the neck, and active, down-clad 

 young. Most of the species may be included in the genus Grus, of 

 which the crane, Griis comviunis, otherwise Grus cinerca, or Gnis grus 

 is the typical representative. 



The crane, of which a very brief notice will suffice, is a migratory 

 species, breeding in northern Europe (inclusive of Lapland) and x'\sia, 

 and wintering in southern Europe, northern Africa, south-western 

 Asia, northern India, and China. Its visits to the British Islands are 



HE ROWLAND WARD STUDIOS 



