STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 261 



said to have driven their long pointed bill 

 through a man's hand in such encounters.' 

 When these birds become old and infirm, they 

 are nourished with great care and tenderness 

 by their young; so that children may learn 

 even from the crane, a lesson of filial love and 

 kindness. Bat I trust my young friends do 

 not need to go to school to these long-necked 

 teachers, to learn how to feel or how to behave 

 toward their parents. 



Cranes make sad havoc with a field of grain. 

 A flock of them will settle on a field, generally 

 in the night, when the grain is nearly fit for 

 harvesting, and trample it down, so that it has 

 all the appearance of having been crossed by a 

 regiment of soldiers. On other occasions, they 

 select some extensive solitary marsh, where 

 they range themselves all day, as if they were 

 holding a council ; and then, not being able to 

 get the grain, an article of food which they 

 like better than any thing else, they wade the 

 marshes for insects and other food. 



