2234 THE BUSTARDS, THICKNEES, AND CRANES 



among the plumage of the back. In the bogs of Lapland the crane breeds in vast 

 numbers; the nest being made of small twigs intertwined with long, sedgy grass, its 

 diameter being about two feet, and its depth several inches. 



The sarus crane (G. antigone) of India, which attains a length of 

 fifty-two inches, together with the nearly-allied Australian crane (G. 

 australiaca) , represent a second group of the genus, characterized by the longer 

 beak, and by the head and neck being bare and covered for three or four inches 

 with numerous crimson warts, from which grow a few scanty black hairs, most 

 developed down the nape. Below this the neck is whitish gray, passing gradually 

 into the blue gray of the rest of the plumage, save the quills and inner webs of 

 the tail feathers, which are dusky slaty. In old birds, however, the elongated 

 feathers become nearly white. The sarus is probably confined to India and Upper 

 Burma, where it is always found in the neighborhood of water, and is less 

 gregarious than the common species, being generally seen in pairs. It is also far 

 less of a grain-eating bird; while, except when driven by drought, it does not 

 migrate. It is likewise tame and confiding, and so attached are the members of a 

 pair that on two occasions Mr. Hume has known the survivor to pine away and die 

 on the death of its mate; and he, therefore, recommends the sportsman, if he must 

 kill one of these beautiful birds, always to shoot the pair. 



Far more beautiful than either of the foregoing is the lovely white 

 crane ( G. leucogeranus) , inhabiting a vast area in Central and North- 

 ern Asia, and migrating in winter to India, and probably other Oriental countries. 

 It is characterized by having the head and neck only partially bare, and the whole 

 plumage, with the exception of the black quills, white; the legs and naked skin .of 

 the face being red. North America also possesses a white representative of the 

 genus in the whooping crane (G. americana) . Mr. Hume observes that the Asiatic 

 species " is the lily of birds; and stand in what position it may, the entire outline of 

 its form presents a series of the most graceful and harmonious curves. ' ' This crane 

 is found only where there are large sheets of shallow water, in which grow abun- 

 dance of the rushes and other aquatic plants forming its chief nutriment. To show 

 how deceptive is the appearance of cranes when seen from a distance, Dr. Coues 

 relates that once, while prongbuck shooting on the prairie, his companion and him- 

 self saw what they " took to be an antelope standing quietly feeding, with his broad, 

 white stern toward us, and only about five hundred yards off. We attempted for 

 at least fifteen minutes to ' flag ' the creature up to us, waving a handkerchief on a 

 ramrod in the most approved style. This proving unavailing, my friend proceeded 

 to stalk the game, and crawled on his belly for about half the distance before the 

 ' antelope ' unfolded his broad, black-tipped wings and flapped off, revealing at 

 length a whooping crane. ' ' 



Among the numerous other members of the genus, space admits 

 of reference to a few only. Of these the great wattled crane (G. 

 carunculata) , of South Africa, takes its name from the presence of two feathered 

 flaps of skin depending from the chin; the general color of the upper plumage being 

 slaty gray, with the neck white and the remainder black. This crane goes about 

 in pairs, which haunt one locality for years. The pretty little demoiselle crane ( G. 



