Breeding of the White-necked Crane. 483 



to his feet, bowed to me and danced, as if vastly amused by 

 the success of his trick, and finally ran away. 



Coming into the garden rather late one night I found 

 out what the use of the papyrus platform was. On it sat 

 the female, secure in the middle of the pond with the two 

 chicks under her wings, and at some distance, standing ou 

 one leg in the water, was the male, keeping watch over the 

 family. 



As the chicks grew they would run farther away if any- 

 body came near, and would then generally be followed by 

 the female. The male, however, would follow me in my 

 wanderings through the garden and would not let me out of 

 sight until I had again left the enclosed space. 



The chicks were clothed with rufous down, darker above 

 and whiter below. At the age of three weeks they were 

 about the size of a common fowl, but higher on the legs and 

 with slighter bodies. At five weeks feathers began to appear 

 on the shoulders. At six weeks the bodies were nearly half- 

 grown, but the legs were comparatively much more developed. 

 At this period the down of the tail, probably with growing 

 feathers at the base, was very long and conspicuous. 



On the 4th of September the chicks were more than three- 

 quarters grown and fully feathered. The first feathers are 

 grey with rufous edges. The grey is darkest and the 

 rufous edges most conspicuous on the upper parts ; on the 

 under parts the grey is lighter and the brown not so well 

 defined. The parts ©f the hind-neck which are white in the 

 adults are bright rufous without any grey in the young birds. 

 The legs are of a greyish flesh-colour and the bill of a yellowish 

 flesh-colour. The head is entirely feathered. The primaries 

 are black with white shafts as in the adults. The inner 

 secondaries are slightly falcated and elongated, but to a lesser 

 degree than in adult birds. 



The parents would not take any bread or meat off'ered to 

 them, but fed the young almost entirely on earthworms and 

 insects, which they provided themselves. Each of the old 

 birds had generally one chick standing near it and was busy 



