curin.K. 



I Ml 



Mr. Swainson (' Natural History and Classification of Binls,' vol. it) 

 i* of opinion that the Ardeada, or Heron*, by means of the Crane*, 

 show the strongest affinity to the Ostriches, and thus unite the rasorial 

 with the wading order. " Nearly all the Cranes," write* Mr. Swainson, 

 " are Urge birds, with abort and powerless wings, long and frequently 

 naked necks, and more terrestrial in their habits than any of their 

 congeners. The beautiful genus Ph^ihia (Ptopkia I), if truly belong- 

 in*; to this family, is more of a gallinaceous than a wading bird." 

 After referring to the genus Anthropoid**, Mr. Swainson thus con- 

 tinues : ' The more typical cranes (Gnu, Pallas) are large birds, few 

 indeed in specie*, but dispersed over Europe, America, and Asia : 

 they aeem to prefer the seclusion and security of marshes, and feed 

 both opoo soecU, herbage, worms, and small reptiles. The Ardeathr, 

 or Typical Heron*, differ from the last in being composed of birds 

 decidedly carnivorous ; they are known by a larger and more pointed 

 bill, and by the superior length of the legs. The herons, as a whole, 

 are the moat beautiful of all the waders, not so much from the colours 

 of their plumage as from the elegant crests and prolonged feathers 

 which ornament nearly all the species. They build in societies, but 

 generally feed and live solitary. Like the kingfishers and many of 

 the fissirostral birds, the greater part watch for their prey from a 

 fixed station : a sheltered nook by the side of a river, or a projecting 

 rock by the sea-side, over deep water, frequently serves them as a 

 convenient post ; here they watch for passing fish, which they dex- 

 terously spear or transfix by their long and sharp bill. Some of these 

 birds are of a gigantic size ; others are very small, but have all a very 

 long neck, covered more or less by strong and loose feather?. The 

 Tiger-Bitterns (Tiyritoma, Swaiuson) are exclusively found in South 

 America, but the true bitterns seem restricted to no particular climate. 

 The Boat-Bills (Cancroma, Linmeus) differ most essentially from the 

 herons, since they have a short and very broad bill, shaped some- 

 thing like a boat with its keel uppermost" [BoAT-BiLt.] . . " The 

 Spoon-Bills (Plntalea) show a different but a no less singular form of 

 beak, from which their name has been derived. The Storks (Ciconia) 

 are among the largest of the heron family, one species (Ciconia 

 piyaiUca) measuring, when standing erect, near 5 4 feet; they are 

 social and useful birds, and from destroying vast numbers of reptiles 

 and other vermin are encouraged in many countries to build on the 

 habitations of man. The chin and eye* are bare of feathers, but in 

 llyctena, which possibly enters into this family, the greatest part of 

 the head and neck is entirely bare : one species inhabit* America, one 

 Ana, and one Australia. The tufted umbre forms the African genus 

 Scoput, and is the only species known ; the plumage is particularly 

 oft, and the back of the head furnished with a lax tuft of feathers : 

 this is obviously allied to the Open-Bills (Anattomue, III), a singular 

 form, remarkable for a thick and very powerful bill gaping iu the 

 miiMle. . . These are the principal genera which appear to enter 

 this family, of which the herons and cranes form the two most typical 

 group*." 



In the ' Synopsis ' (same volume), Mr. Swainson places the Ardtada 

 a* the first family of the Grallatoret, or Waders, with the following 

 definition : " Size Urge ; bill long, conic, very hard, straight, and 

 compressed ; hind toe moderate, and placed on the same level as the 

 then." The family, according to thi* author, includes the following 

 genera and sub-genera: ArdeaArdea, Egrttta, Butor (Bitterns), 

 Tigruoma (Tiger-Bitterns), Nyctiardta, Swainson (Night-Herons); 

 Oomcroma; Plalalea ; Ciconia (including Mycteria as a sub-genus); 

 Samatopta; and Bcoptu. 



Specie* of the families Gnudcc and Ardeidce are to be found in all the 

 four quarters of the globe. They seldom occur in the very cold regions. 



We now proceed to give the characters of the genera of Oruidce : 



Onu (Palla*). Bill of the length of the head or rather longer, 

 bong, rtraight, oompre*ed, the point in the form of an elongated 

 cone, obtuse towards the end ; lateral base of the mandible deeply 

 channelled ; base of the bill elevated. Nostrils in the middle of the 

 bill, pierced through and through in the groove, and closed backwards 

 by a membrane. Region of the eyes and base of the bill often naked, 

 or covered with warty excrescence* (mamelons). Feet long and strong, 

 a large naked space above the knee ; three anterior toes, the middle 

 one united to the external by a rudiment of a membrane, interior 

 toe divided, posterior toe articulated higher on the tarsus. Wings 

 moderate; first quill shorter than the second, which last i* nearly as 

 long a* the third, and that is the longest ; secondaries nearest to the 

 body, arched, or very long and subulate in some foreign specie*. 



Bill of Common Crane (Gnu cinerea). 



In the greater part of the species the trachea of the male forms 

 Circumvolutions upon iUeJf ; in the other similar sinuosities occur in 

 both (exes, which do not differ in external appearance. Moult once 

 In the year. (Temminck.) 



Gnu cinerta. The general plumage is ashy gray ; throat, front of 

 the neck, an<l occiput, very deep blackish gray. Forehead and space 

 between the eye* and bill furnished with black hairs ; top of the bead 

 naked and red. Some of the secondaries arched, longer, and loose- 

 barbed. Bill greenish-black, horn-coloured towards the point, and 

 reddish at the base ; iris red-brown. Feet black. Length from th.- 

 bill to the end of the tail 3 feet 8 or 10 inches. The old birds have 

 a large whitish space behind the eyes and along the lateral part of the 

 upper portion of tho neck. 



Common Crane (Gnu cinerea). 



Young Birds before their second autumnal moult. No nakedness 

 on the top of the head, or the space hardly visible. The blackish ash- 

 colour of the front of the neck and occiput non-existent, or only 

 indicated by longitudinal spots. 



This is the rtpavos of the Greeks; Gnu of the Romans; Grue 

 and Grua of the Italians; Grue of the French; Grulla of the 

 Spanish ; Kranich and Ascbgrauer Kranich of the Germans ; Trone of 

 the Danes ; Goran of the Welsh ; and Crane and Common Crane of 

 the English. 



The habits of the Crane are migratory and gregarious. Mr. Sclby 

 remarks that in its contour and gait it bears a considerable resemblance 

 to some of tho Stnithionida, and that we are reminded of the ostrich 

 by the long flowing plumes that overhang the tail. He is of opinion 

 that through this and other families its affinity to the Rasorial liinlx 

 is readily traced ; and ho observes that in its internal conformation it 

 differs very essentially from the more typical familea of the Orallatora, 

 and that its strong and muscular stomach indicates a different p 

 economy from that of the Ardeid<t. This is quite true; but whilst 

 the Crane frequents open and cultivated lands for the sake of newly 

 sown corn and seeds to be found in such tracts, it is far from averse 

 to small testaceous mollnsks, worms, frogs, and other reptiles. 

 Temminck says that the nest is placed among the rushes, Ac., and 

 sometimes on the walls of isolated houses. The pale bluish-green 

 eggs, marked with brown, ore two in number. 



Temminck states that this crane inhabits the marshy plains of the 

 Oriental countries ; that it is common in the north, migrates regularly 

 in spring and autumn, is rare in its passage in Holland, and only in 

 very severe winters. Asia is one of the tracts of country much fre- 

 quented by it Dr. Von Siebold notices it in his list of birds killed at 

 Japan. Mr. Selby states that its equatorial migrations extend to 

 India, Egypt, and other warm parts of Asia and Africa, but that it 

 retires in summer to the northern and eastern parts of Europe to 

 breed. The migrations are performed high iu the air, and the pro- 

 gress of the flock may be traced by the loud cries of the birds when 

 they are beyond tho reach of sight The nighttime is frequently 

 chosen for these changes of locality. Prince Bonaparte notes it as 

 very rare and accidental near Rome ; Willughby however saw many 

 of them in the poulterers' shops in winter. But it is in England that 

 the alteration of the country by drainage and enclosure has caused 

 perhaps the most remarkable absence of these fine birds. They were 

 numerous in the time of our ancestors, and highly esteemed by them, 

 both as objects of sport and as furnishing a dish fit for the table of 

 prince*. By 25 Henry V11I., c, 11, confirmed by 3 and 4 K.hv. VI.. 

 c. 7, twenty pence was tho forfeiture for each egg of tho Crane taken 

 and destroyed. Willughby says, " They come often to us in England; 



