164: COMMON CRANE. 



The latter is said to be in marshes, by the sides of 

 lakes or rivers, where the vegetation is dense, and a 

 love for elevated situations is also ascribed to it. 

 The structure of the trachea is somewhat similar to 

 that observed in some of the Natatores, the swan 

 for instance, and in several of the Rasores ; it per- 

 forms extensive convolutions in the sternum as it 

 advances in age, occupying nearly the whole of its 

 internal space. 



The crown of the head exhibits a naked oval 

 space, of a bluish or livid colour, we believe, in the 

 living bird, thickly scattered over with black hairs, 

 or rather hair-like plumes ; immediately succeeding 

 this, the feathers on the occiput are brocoli-brown ; 

 the chin, and fore parts of the neck, ending in a 

 point on the breast, are of the same colour ; all the 

 general plumage is ash-grey, slightly paler beneath ; 

 the bastard and primary quills, secondaries, and 

 tertials, are black ; a portion of the secondaries and 

 tertials being elongated, assume a curved form, have 

 the webs disunited, and droop gracefully over the 

 ends of the wings and sides, in the form of the 

 curved feathers in the tail of the domestic cock. 

 The tail is blackish-grey, short in comparison with 

 the size of the bird ; the under coverts reaching in 

 length to its extremity ; the legs and feet black. 



In the female the development of the long plumes 

 is less, and the colours of the plumage scarcely so 

 clear. The young want the dark colour on the 

 neck and occiput, and have the plumage more 

 tinted with brown. 



