574 BRITISH BIRDS. 
have been found. They vary in ground-colour from brownish buff to 
greenish buff, spotted and blotched with rich brown, and with underlying 
markings of paler brown and greyish pink. Some specimens have most of 
the markings on the large end, where they form a semi-confluent mass ; in 
some they form an irregular zone ; whilst in others they are evenly distri- 
buted over the entire surface, many being indistinct and confluent. Some 
specimens have much of the brown surface-colour clouded over the shell, 
with one or two large spots and an indistinct mass of colour at the large 
end, intermingled with a few dark-brown spots. The shell is con- 
spicuously pitted, almost like pig-skin, and shows little gloss. They vary 
in length from 4*1 to 3°5 inch, and in breadth from 2°5 to 2°3 inch. 
The eggs of the Common Crane may always be distinguished from those of 
the Demoiselle Crane by their larger size, but the variations in colour and 
shape are common to those of both species. 
The Crane is one of the largest birds that visit our islands, and stands 
from three to four feet in height. The general colour of the plumage is 
pale slate-grey, shading into black on the quills and innermost secondaries, 
which are elongated and disintegrated into handsome plumes, which conceal 
the tail. The sides of the upper half of the neck are white up to the eye ; 
but the nape, chin, and upper throat are very dark slate-grey ; on the crown 
is a scarlet warty patch devoid of feathers; the forehead and lores are 
covered with dark hairs. Bill greyish olive ; legs, feet, and claws nearly 
black ; irides deep crimson. The female differs very slightly from the male 
in colour. Young in first plumage have the parts of the head which are 
naked in the adult covered with feathers, and the black and white on the 
head and upper part of the neck are replaced by brown and grey ; the plumes 
are much smaller and less curled. After the first spring moult it has 
assumed a nearly adult plumage. There can be little doubt that the adult 
bird has also a spring moult, and that the winter plumage is browner than 
that of summer, the red crown much less vivid, and the nuptial plumes not 
so well developed. The young in down are chestnut-brown above, shading 
into paler brown below. 
