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COMMON CRANE. 571 
Amoor. West of Russia and south of the Baltic it is a very local bird 
during the breeding-season. Beyond the Baltic Provinces and Poland its 
breeding-range extends through Pomerania to the Elbe, and in South 
Russia into the valley of the Lower Danube. Further west we have 
no reliable evidence of its breeding, except in the marshes of Andalusia, 
where Saunders and Irby obtained its eggs. In other parts of Europe 
it is only seen on migration to its winter-quarters in North Africa. It 
winters in Algeria, Egypt, Nubia, and Sennar, and occasionally in various 
parts of Southern Europe, Palestine, and Persia. Eastwards it breeds in 
Russian Turkestan ; passes through Mongolia, North China, and Japan 
on migration; and winters in South China, India, and possibly Burma. 
The Crane has several allies in Asia and America, but none with which it 
can easily be confounded. Blyth suspected that the Cranes in the east 
differed slightly from those in the west, having less black on the plumes 
and less red on the crown, and the plumage being generally browner ; but 
subsequent researches have not confirmed this view. 
There are many interesting points in the history of the Crane. Its home 
is on the plains, in their wettest part. It is rarely found except in places 
which are half lake and half swamp. It never perches in a tree, and never 
builds its nest on a tree, but it does not object to the vicinity of trees. I 
have heard them calling to their young in the forests of Pomerania, and 
seen them flying over the trees in small flocks in June. In these forests are 
swampy places, where the trees are drowned out, and where rushes, coarse 
grass, and sedge grow in small hummocks, with clear water between ; and 
on the outskirts of the forests are extensive moors, where similar swampy 
places, generally with a lake in the middle of them, are found. In both 
these localities the Crane breeds. I found it quite as abundant near the 
treeless steppes of the Danube, on the swampy margins of the lagoons which 
are so common on the western shores of the Black Sea, and doubtless are the 
remains of old mouths of the Danube. In both these localities the Crane 
was more or less gregarious, even in the middle of the breeding-season. 
Like most other large birds, it is very shy ; and flocks of Cranes always, it 
is said, appoint one of their number to act as spy, and give the alarm to 
the rest on the approach of danger. They are diurnal birds, and may be 
seen feeding at all hours of the day, and they migrate during the day in 
flocks. It is a very interesting sight to watch them on their migrations. 
They fly very high and very quick, like Wild Geese or Swans, and, as these 
birds do, they keep in a line together like a regiment of soldiers, as if 
actuated by one mind. This line is generally Y-shaped, often it changes 
to W-shaped ; but in spite of the great speed, every movement is conducted 
with wonderful regularity. The mode of flight resembles that of a Stork, 
inasmuch as the neck is fully outstretched ; but it approaches that of the 
Heron in the fact that the legs when extended form a perfectly straight 
