THE



Bvicultural /Ifcaga^tnc,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICU LTURAL SOCIETY.



VOL. VIII.—NO. 1. All rights reserved. NOVEMBER, 1901.



AUSTRALIAN CRANES NESTING IN ENGLAND.


By the Rev. Hubert D. Asteey, M.A., F.Z.S.


In the year 1852 the splendid Native Companion Crane of

Australia, the only species of the Crane family in the whole of

that huge continent, was imported into Europe, and since 1857

with regularity. All the principal European zoological societies

have kept these birds from that time up till the present, but

never, until this year, have any of them been known to make

a serious attempt to breed. Mr. Blaauw, in his beautiful

“ Monograph of the Cranes,” states this to be the case, and Mr.

Tegetmeier confirms it. The late Eord Eilford and other

enthusiastic ornithologists and bird-lovers have kept Australian

Cranes in private collections under most favourable circum¬

stances, and yet they have failed to obtain even the partial

success which I have been fortunate enough to achieve this

summer.


Mr. Blaauw mentions the fact that an egg was laid in the

Zoological Gardens of Amsterdam, but adds that he knows of no

instance of this species of Crane having bred in captivity. By

this I suppose he means that no eggs have been hatched, and

also that none of these Cranes have truly nested. The pair of

Australian Cranes that I have, were purchased in 1897, but not

until this year have they ever attempted to nest. They live in a

part of the park immediately in front of the house, and spend

most of their time at the edge of the lake, a piece of water of

about 8 acres. They seldom wander to any distance, and, indeed,

seem to have marked out a boundary, beyond which they seldom

or never pass ; nor will they allow the other Cranes (Manchurian,

Siberian, and European) to enter their claimed domain. The

male Australian is pinioned, but the female has her full wings,

although she does not often make use of them in flight. They

are magnificent birds, in colour a fine bright grey, which is

enhanced by the brilliant scarlet skin 011 the back of the head.



