Zbc Xarac JSir&a at ffialhnvalter parh. 



By the Lad}- Duni.eaTh. 



HAVE much pleasure in comph^ng with 

 the request that I should write some- 

 thing about ni}' large birds. 



I began with a pair of Demoiselles, 

 and when they died I bought a pair of 

 common European Cranes. The}' are most interesting 

 birds, which dance and go through the most extra- 

 ordinary antics. After a year the hen broke her leg, 

 high up the thigh, and died. The cock then made 

 great friends with my hen Flamingo, escorted her 

 about ever3'vvhere, and danced to her. They have a 

 range of about twent\' acres — wood, grass, and shrub- 

 bery — but they all return to their house in the evening, 

 and are easily driven into their different compartments. 



Last year I got two more Cranes, quite young : 

 one so young that it refused to eat except out of my 

 hand, and I feared it would die. I fed it on soaked 

 bread — but I believe it was by giving it about four 

 ounces of raw meat cut up, every morning, that I 

 saved its life. The old cock at once took up with 

 these young ones. I have cut some feathers in their 

 wings, so that they can just clear the ground when 

 they try to fly. They are very tame, and. the young 

 cock is most amusing : if we wave our arms up and 

 down, he comes quite close to us, drawing himself up 



