182 GRUIDAl. 



rence of "some few Cranes " is recorded by Smith in his 

 Histories of the Counties of Waterford and of Cork, during 

 the great frost of 1739, " but not since or before in any 

 person's memory"; Thompson only mentions one shot in 

 the county of Galway, and another in Tralee Bay ; and two 

 have been obtained in Kerry.* 



The Crane is an occasional straggler on migration to 

 the Fferoes and to the northern districts of Norway, and 

 breeds in the large morasses in the interior of the latter 

 country and of Sweden : in Lapland, Finland, and in suit- 

 able localities throughout the greater part of Eussia and 

 Poland. Owing to the drainage of the marshes, it no 

 longer nests regularly in Denmark, but it still does so in 

 many districts of Northern Germany ; and even in those 

 parts of the Continent in which it does not take up its abode, 

 the loud trumpet-like clanging note, often heard at night 

 when the utterer is invisible, is a familiar announcement 

 of the spring passage. In Northern Europe this is gene- 

 rally about the beginning of April, and the return takes 

 place in September ; but in France, where it is not known 

 to breed, the spring migration in the south-western districts 

 commences, according to the Editor's observations, early in 

 March. In some portions of the Spanish Peninsula it is 

 abundant in autumn and during the winter — a tolerable 

 number remaining to breed in some of the marshes of Anda- 

 lucia.f In the islands, and on both the northern and 

 southern sliores of the Mediterranean, it is principally a 

 migrant or a winter resident ; but although very abundant 

 in North Africa, Palestine, and Persia during the latter 

 season, it is not known to nest in those countries. East- 



* The above remarks undoubtedly refer to the bird under consideration, but 

 it should be remembered tbat at the present time, in Ireland, Wales, on the 

 Scottish Border, and in many parts of England, the name of Crane is frequently 

 applied to the Heron, and sometimes to the Cormorant and other long-necked 

 birds. 



f The Editor found it nesting there eaily in May, 1868, but owing to the 

 prevalent belief at that time that its breeding places were confined to the North, 

 his statements were received in some quarters with an incredulity which was 

 only dissipated by the exhibition of its unmistakable eggs. 



il 



