196 PROPAGATION OF WILD BIRDS 



same way, though it is doubtful if they could endure a 

 Northern winter like the coot, though perhaps with shelter 

 in winter they might do well. 



Cranes. The keeping of cranes on estates is becoming 

 quite a fashion, and it is said that there are nineteen species 

 known to be amenable to artificial conditions. These birds 

 are easily tamed and fed, and are of striking and interesting 

 appearance, as, with dignified carriage, they stalk about. 

 The usual practice is to pinion them and let them range in 

 large fenced enclosures. Most kinds are hardy and can 

 endure cold weather. All they need for shelter is an open 

 shed or merely a thatch of evergreen boughs, with a wind- 

 break to the north and west. The food requirements are 

 simple, merely grain of any sorts. L. S. Crandall, of the 

 New York Zoological Park, recommends also now and then 

 a feed of raw fish. They also graze a good deal and hunt 

 for insects. 



Breeding. Pinioned cranes, especially if kept in small 

 enclosures, usually do not breed. When occasionally they 

 produce eggs these are usually infertile. This is the experi- 

 ence at the above Park, as stated by Mr. Crandall. One 

 pair there laid infertile eggs, and an unmated female for 

 years produced such eggs each season. He states also that 

 the young are hard to raise, because for about the first three 

 weeks they will not eat unless fed by the parents, who 

 catch insects for them and feed them. The only likely way 

 to make cranes breed is to give them access to a considerable 

 tract of grass, where they can secure plenty of insect life 

 and get exercise. 



An article by Maurice Portal in the English magazine, 

 Country Life, April 4, 1914, quotes facts which indicate 

 that cranes are more likely to breed successfully if kept 

 unpinioned and given liberty. As they are expensive, few 



