SERVES AS A DECOY. 377 



into the water again ; and it was not until assistance arrived 

 that it could be induced to move off. But the matter 

 did not end here ; for no sooner had the boy put on his 

 clothes, and was on his way to the house, than he was 

 met by the. crane, which came from an opposite direction ; 

 and though he endeavoured to reach the door before the 

 bird and would have done so, had he not fallen it came 

 up with him, and immediately commenced a savage attack 

 on his head and face with its long and pointed bill. Hap- 

 pily, however, aid was at hand, and it was soon driven 

 away, though not before the poor little fellow was a good 

 deal hurt more especially just above the temples, where he 

 had received a rather severe wound, which was some time 

 before it thoroughly healed. 



Thence forward the boy became, if possible, still more 

 afraid of the crane ; but singularly enough the bird, after 

 that day, never took the slightest notice of him ; whence 

 it would seem, that after the severe chastisement it had in- 

 flicted on him, its vengeance was fully satisfied. 



" The late M. Dahlson, proprietor of Ferna Bruk," says 

 the President M. af Robson, " had a living crane that had 

 been on the property some fifty years. The thinness of the 

 feathers about its neck, and the nakedness of its throat, 

 indeed, gave visible evidence of its very advanced age. It 

 was perfectly tame, and would gladly be in a room where 

 anything in the shape of eatables such as cakes, biscuits, 

 and the like were to be found. The most remarkable thing 

 respecting this bird was, that during the autumn, and more 

 especially in the spring, it served to lure wild cranes passing 

 over head, which not unfrequently fell victims to their Slagt- 

 karlek, or love of kindred. It looked at the shot birds with 



