THE COMMON CRANE. 75 



statute in its breeding season in Norfolk, but as it has 

 not bred there for 200 years, this law may well be 

 looked upon as obsolete. 



The Common Crane (Grus cinerea) of the family 

 Gruidce, visits Britain occasionally in winter, as do the 

 storks. They pause to feed in rivers or on their banks, 

 and are destroyed by numerous sportsmen. The 

 same remark may apply to the Glossy Ibis (Ibis falchio- 

 nellus), a bird of rich purple and greenish plumage, 

 but which has never yet been known to breed in 

 Britain. It is blown to our shores by the gales 

 of winter. 



The Curlew (Numenius arcuata^ family Scolopacida) 

 and Whimbril (N. phcepus) are moor and mountain 

 birds, but yet breed in the neighbourhood of our 

 lakes occasionally ; the Sandpipers in Britain are more 

 strictly aquatic birds; of these the most common 

 is the Redshank (Totanus calidris, genus Totanus). 

 This is indigenous, and not uncommon on boggy 

 grounds, to which the birds resort in April and May. 

 It makes a rude nest, by gathering together dry grass 

 beneath a tuft. It lays four eggs, which vary in ground 

 colours from greenish-yellow to olive-brown ; the spots 

 are very dark reddish-brown and liver-coloured; they 

 are sometimes found in a zone, at other times greatly 

 gathered together at the large end. They are i-f 

 inches to i-J-f- inches long, by i-^- inches to ig 9 T 

 inches broad. 



The Redshank is not gregarious in winter, but leads 

 a solitary life along the coast. The feet and part of 

 the bill are yellowish-red. The bird is n inches 

 long, the expanse of wings is 21 inches, and the 



