252 GRUIFORMES CHAP. 
membrane; the hallux is small, much elevated, and furnished with 
a sharp hooked claw. The wings are described by different writers 
as long or moderate, but are certainly ample and rounded, with 
about thirty-three quills, of which eleven are primaries; the 
decomposed inner secondaries exceed the last-named, and are either 
lanceolate and drooping, or broad and erectile, while in Bugeranus 
and Tetrapteryx they are extraordinarily extended. The short tail 
has twelve rectrices. -Anthropoides has long silky auricular plumes, 
Balearica a bristly crest and a naked gular wattle, Bugeranus a 
feathered lappet on each side of the throat, Antigone australasiana 
a pendulous pouch, and most species, as will be seen below, a partly 
bare carunculated head. The tongue is lanceolate, the nostrils 
pervious; while, except in Balearica, the trachea of the adult is con- 
voluted within the keel of the sternum, but enters it behind the 
clavicles,—which are often ancylosed with it,—and not in front of 
them, as in certain Swans, the development varying according 
to the species and the age. In Anthropoides the cavity of the 
keel is open laterally. The furcula is Y-shaped, the aftershaft 
is very small, the down is uniform in both adults and young. 
Cranes are inhabitants of morasses and plains, being especi- 
ally fond of the neighbourhood of lagoons, tanks, and fields of 
corn or rice; yet they are also found in boggy openings in 
forests, on sandy flats, or even on the sea-shore. They are gre- 
garious after the breeding season, when they often collect into 
flocks of immense size, which pass the night together and traverse 
vast distances in company. The northern species all migrate 
southwards in winter. Erect and tall, they may be seen strid- 
ing swiftly along with head thrown back, or strutting around 
their mates ; while in spring they often stand in rows and pro- 
ceed to stalk about in single file, or dance to meet one another 
with nodding heads, necks advanced, and wings widely out- 
spread. Thereafter they bow towards the ground, jump in the 
air, and perform graceful antics of all descriptions. The chosen 
spot for these dances is commonly near water. The male courts 
his spouse in somewhat similar fashion, and twigs or feathers 
are often tossed in the air in sport, to be caught again ere they 
touch the ground. Rising from a level spot appears to be a 
difficult matter, the birds running awkwardly for a few yards, and 
labouring heavily with their wings to gain their purpose ; when 
once in the air, however, the flight is steady and swift, with head 
