126 INDIAN SPORTING BIEDS 



sometbinc;; I had not seen before, and I followed them up, and 

 though I failed to bring my bird down with the first barrel I 

 knocked one over as they rose with the second. He half fluttered 

 and half ran down the stream, and it took a third barrel to bring 

 him to bag ; but when it was at last brought to hand, I found 

 myself in possession of an undoubted Grus monarchus. The 

 anterior crown was black, otherwise the whole head and neck 

 were white. The brown margins to the feathers of the upper- 

 part made the plumage appear to be a brown-grey. The wing 

 measured full twenty inches." 



This measurement would be taken from the pinion-joint to 

 the tip, and does not indicate a " huge " bird, but is correct for 

 this species. Cranes are rare in Cachar, and of other species 

 Mr. Baker only records the sarus, and that only as a pair of casual 

 visitants, so no doubt any crane would reasonably have appealed 

 to him as a huge bird. These details are worth giving, because 

 the specimen was unfortunately not kept. " I was three days 

 from headquarters," says Mr. Baker, " but I thought special 

 messengers would get it in in time to skin, but alas ! when I 

 arrived three days later I found it had not been brought in, and 

 the messenger, when questioned, said, ' Oh, it began to smell, so 

 I threw it away.' " It is a pity the attempt to send it on was 

 made, as the head and neck, however roughly preserved, would 

 have been sufficient for identification. 



Hume also mentions, in volume xi of " Stray Feathers," 

 what was probably an occurrence of this species in Manipur. 

 "On March 13, when between Booree Bazaar and Bishnoopoor, 

 a small flock of cranes passed me at a distance of about two 

 hundred and fifty yards, flying low and due north. I got on to 

 a small mound and watched them for probably more than a mile 

 with my glasses, but when I lost sight of them they were still 

 flying steadily away northwards. Now, whatever they were, they 

 were certainly none of our Indian species. . . . They were 

 of a uniform dark hue, much darker than communis, and had the 

 whole head and upper-parts of the neck pure white. Of course, 

 one says at once ' Gnis monachus no doubt.' But so far as I have 

 been able to study the distribution of this group it is simply 

 impossihle for monachus to be in Manipur in March. I never 



