149



Notes o?i the Cranes at Lilford Hail.



they successfully hatched off both eggs, but the young, I am

sorry to say, died of gapes at three weeks old. This loss we

attributed to stale ground, and removed the birds to a tresh and

more roomy place where, we hope, they will nest this year and

be successful in rearing young.


The Canadian and Mantchurian Cranes have bred together

on two occasions. We have only kept one. It is a fine bird, but

could not be called very handsome ; he is a mixture of white

and dark grey, and possesses all the characteristics of the father

(the Canadian) but is slightly larger. Here, again, we found that

the parents did their very best in providing insect-life, especially

the Canadian, and the young were reared quite easily. Old age

and rheumatism ended the long life of the Mantchurian last

summer.


We find that the Crowned Cranes ( Gins chrysoplargus and

Gtus pavonina) differ in many respects from all the other mem¬

bers of the family. In the first place, they never want to make

friends, particularly Pavonina. They go to a considerable height

to perch at night, and will sometimes go up during the day if a

suitable place is provided in their compartment. They are large

feeders of young grass, and will eat very little grain if a plentiful

supply of bread and other soft food is at hand. Cast summer

pavonina made a nest of grass sticks and other things found

handy in the run, but nothing more happened ; as this was their

first attempt at nest-making we hope that they will go one better

this year and give us some eggs at least.


The Siberian Cranes make a large nest every season of

flags and their roots, just far enough from the pond to be above

high-water mark ; during the process the male stands knee-deep

in water, pulling up the flags vigorously, and passes each mouth¬

ful on to the female who is within reach, and she in like manner

puts them on, or as near as she can, to the nest, without leaving

her place, until a good heap is ashore, then both birds walk up

to the nest and put it in order; if there is not enough to finish

they then go off again and repeat the process until the nest is

completed. Two eggs are laid, and, as is the case with the

White-necked species, the male incubates until the laying of the

second egg. It is to be regretted that these birds never succeed



