The)'do not stand as high as the stately Manchurian Cranes, nor,

again, as the Sarus Crane of India, but they are not far off those

species in size, and are taller than the common Crane, a bird of

no mean stature.


In May last the Australians showed evident signs of an

intention to breed, and began to build a nest on the immediate

margin of the lake, composed of dead rushes and a few sticks.

Bnt the situation did not please them, and they built a second

nest a few yards farther along, under the overhanging boughs of

a large beech tree, but again close to the water’s edge, though in

a less damp spot. The female bird took short flights of a morning

when her mate was courting her, and it was a fine sight as the

great bird flapped her broad pinions and flew on a level with the

tops of the tallest trees, her image reflected in the lake as she

passed over it. Towards the end of May she laid her two eggs,

the usual complement of all Cranes ; but her possession of them

was short, for one was very soon stolen (a Great Black-backed

Gull was the supposed thief), and the other, in consecpience of

the theft, was removed, to be incubated by a farmyard hen, who,

however, failed to hatch it. Bnt in eight days’ time the Crane

laid the first of a second batch of eggs in the same nest as

before, omitting, as she had previously done, one day between

the production of the first and second egg. On this second

clutch she sat steadily for ten days, the male bird in the mean¬

while attacking with much fury any human passer-by, and

following people for some distance until he saw them safely off

the premises. Then, for the second time, the eggs were taken,

both disappearing simultaneously. This time suspicion rested

upon the Jackdaws ; or it may have been a pair of Herring-gulls,

which had till then appeared perfectly innocent of contem¬

plating such destruction. The Great Black-backed Gull had

been removed ; in fact, found guilty and imprisoned.


In any case, I discovered the skin of one of the eggs in the

water of the lake. The loss was all the more aggravating, inas¬

much as the skin was covered with veins, showing that the eggs

were fertile, and that young birds were forming in the shells.

Two sets of eggs having been laid, I gave tip all idea of any more

until next spring, when, to my astonishment, some ten days

after, the female bird once more took up her position on the same

nest, which she added to slightly and rearranged. In a fortnight

from the disappearance of the second clutch, the first egg of a

third one was laid, which was again followed by another egg two

days afterwards.



