NESTS AND EGGS 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



CRANE. 



COMMON CRANE. 

 PLATE CLVH. 



Grus cinfrea, FLEMING. SELBT. 



Ardea grus, PEXXAM. MONTAGU. 



THE Crane nidificates both on low trees, stumps, and bushes, and 

 also on the ground; sometimes too on the top of some old building, as 

 well as upon a conglomerate mass of rushes or other water plants, 

 among high grass or reeds, and in osier beds, and other such situations, 

 in morasses, and by the sides of lakes. The nest is a large structure, 

 made of sticks, with grass, rushes, flags, reeds, and other soft materials. 

 The young remain for some days in the nest, and are fed by the 

 parents with food prepared in their own crops. 



The eggs are two they are richly coloured, of a pale olive green 

 ground, blotted and spotted with darker shades of green and olive 

 brown. Both birds incubate them. 



VOL. n r. 



