252 GRUIFORMES chap. 



P 



membrane ; the hallux is small, much elevated, and furnished with 

 a sharp hooked claw. The wings are described bj 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 ' Jki 

 lanceolate and drooping, or broad and erectile, while in Bugeranus 

 and Tetrapteryx they are extraordinarily extended. The short tail 

 has twelve rectrices. Anthropoicles 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 australasicma 

 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 witliin 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 Anthropo'ides 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 w^ater. 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. Eising 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 



