GRUS. 569 
their long bills and their elongate instead of ovate nostrils ; but no purpose 
can be served in splitting up such a small genus, since we are absolutely 
ignorant of the taxonomic value of these characters. 
The number of species, their characters and distribution, are consequently 
the same as those of the family. 
The Cranes frequent open tracts of country, large plains, and extensive 
swamps. ‘They are migratory (breeding in the north and wintering in 
the tropics), and perform their annual journeys at great elevations. Their 
notes are very loud and powerful. Their food consists principally of grain, 
small mammals and reptiles, and insects. Their nests are large, and com- 
posed of reeds, dry grass, sticks, &c., and are built on the ground in a 
little-frequented part of a morass. Their eggs are very handsome, olive 
or greenish brown in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with various 
shades of brown. 
NEST OF WATERHEN, 
