108 The Common Crane 
along the low hillsides bordering on the marshland, where they 
seem to find many beetles and other morsels to reward their 
researches. But they are by no means wholly insectivorous, and are 
at times somewhat destructive of the newly sown corn and, later, 
of the bean crops. These truly noble birds were once common in 
our fenlands but have long since disappeared, their title in many 
parts of the British Isles being now conferred on the Common 
Heron, a bird which, although large in the eyes of Englishmen, is 
considerably less than half the size of the rightful owner of the 
name. 
During the winter months considerable flocks of Cranes congre- 
gate in favourable regions in southern Spain, and it is no uncom- 
mon sight to see parties of fifty or more flighting of an evening to 
the marshes to feed. By day they are ever on the alert and hence, 
happily, are rarely shot; but after a nightfall no bird is so confiding 
and all who have waited for duck after sundown in these parts can 
testify how on such occasions, provided the gunner remains still, 
these great birds will placidly fly within 25 yards of him, their 
curious creaking cry having well advertised their approach some 
minutes before they come in sight. In such circumstances nothing 
could save them from extermination save the fact that their flesh 
is very coarse, and that few beyond the very poorest of the country 
folk care to eat it. It is indeed a sin to kill these magnificent birds; 
for magnificent they are as they stalk solemnly through the reeds, 
the brilliant sun of Andalucia illuminating the lustrous silver grey of 
their backs and the splendid black tertial plumes which deck their 
graceful forms. Their strangely melodious and far-reaching cry, 
so constantly heard by day, is also indissolubly connected with the 
wilder side of life in Spain and has given interest and pleasure 
to many who were ignorant whence it came. But besides these 
numerous winter visitors to Andalucia and a few summer residents, 
enormous numbers of Cranes pass in the autumn through Morocco 
