6



W. II. St. Quintin—The Mantchurian Crane



these Cranes, even when adult, are considerable consumers of animal

food. They have nearly cleared the water within their reach of Swan-

mussels, and several times they have been seen to capture Eels, though

they leave the Roach and Perch alone.


Twice the old male, who is always the successful fisherman, whether

of Mussels or Eels, has been seen feeding the young birds with bits

which he managed to pinch off the carcase of an Eel, finally gulping

down the remainder himself. On August 5 lie was seen to bring a live

Eel ashore, and after clumsy efforts to kill it, “ handed ” the fish to one

of the young ones which came up, which swallowed it, still wriggling,

just as a Stork might have done.


It is well known that Cranes are devoted parents while the young

are helpless. I was struck this summer by the intelligence shown by

my birds. If a cold wind was blowing they were clever at finding some

shelter for the chicks, under the lee of a belt of growing sedge. If

a young one was unable to swallow a morsel of food that had been held

out to it the old one would take it back and break it into fragments,

and then offer the small bits one by one. The juvenile Cranes, even when

nearly full grown, uttered almost incessantly a low piping note, quite

out of proportion to the size of the bird. On September 5 one of the

young Cranes flew out of the enclosure, so I caught them up and

shortened the primary feathers. They are, I think, undoubtedly male

and female.


By the same date the fawn colour of their plumage had been splashed

with white, and the new feathers appeared rapidly during the succeeding

weeks, so that by the end of November the general coloration of the

young birds had become white, with a few fawn feathers here and there ;

the plumes, some black, others a rich fawn ; the head and neck still

fawn ; and, of course, there is no sign yet of the crimson forehead

patch. I have confined the young in an enclosure well out of sight of

the old birds, and they are walked into a shed at night as a precaution,

though even in this present inclement season they appear quite

indifferent to the weather.


It has been noticed that in captivity some of the Cranes do not

moult their primaries (which are shed altogether like those of

waterfowl) every year. My Mantchurian Cranes, though they did cast



