404 GRUIDJE. 



Willughby, whose " Ornithology" was published about a 

 hundred years later, says that Cranes were regular visitors 

 in England, and that large flocks of them were to be 

 found, in summer, in the fens of Lincolnshire and Cam- 

 bridgeshire. Whether they bred in England, as Aldro- 

 vandus states, on the authority of an Englishman who 

 had seen their young, he could not say on his own personal 

 knowledge. 



Sir Thomas Brown, a contemporary of Willughby, 

 writes, in his account of birds found in Norfolk : " Cranes 

 are often seen here in hard winters, especially about the 

 champaign and fieldy part. It seems they have been more 

 plentiful ; for, in a bill of fare, when the mayor enter- 

 tained the Duke of Norfolk, I met with Cranes in a dish." 



Pennant, writing towards the close of the eighteenth 

 century, says : "On the strictest inquiry, we learn that, 

 at present, the inhabitants of those counties are scarcely 

 acquainted with them : we therefore conclude that these 

 birds have left our land." Three or four instances only 

 of the occurrence of the Crane took place within the 

 memory of Pennant's last editor ; and about as many 

 more are recorded by Yarrell as having come within the 

 notice of his correspondents during the present century. 

 It would seem, therefore, that the Crane has ceased to be 

 a regular visitor to Britain. It is, however, still of common 

 occurrence in many parts of the Eastern Continent, passing 

 its summer in temperate climates, and retiring southwards 

 at the approach of winter. Its periodical migrations are re- 

 markable for their punctuality, it having been observed 

 that, during a long series of years, it has invariably traversed 

 France southward in the latter half of the month of Octo- 

 ber, returning during the latter half of the month of March. 

 On these occasions, Cranes fly in large flocks, composed of 

 two lines meeting at an angle, moving with no great 

 rapidity, and alighting mostly during the day to rest and 

 feed. At other seasons, it ceases to be gregarious, and 



