THE CRANE. 



173 



so tall. Indeed, a bird, the body of which is 

 not larger than that of a turkey-hen, and ac- 

 knowledged on all hands not to weigh above 

 ten pounds, cannot easily be supposed to be 

 almost as long as an ostrich. Brisson, how- 

 ever, seems to give this bird its real dimen- 

 sions, when he describes it as something less 

 than the brown stork, about three feet high, 

 and about four from the tip to the tail. Still, 

 however, the numerous testimonies of its su- 

 perior size are not to be totally rejected ; and, 

 perhaps, that from which Erisson took his di- 

 mensions, was one of the smallest of the kind. 



The crane, taking its dimensions from him, 

 is exactly three feet four inches from the tip 

 to the tail, and four feet from the head to the 

 toe. It is a tall slender bird, with a long 

 neck and long legs. The top of the head is 

 covered with black bristles, and the back of 

 it is bald and red, which sufficiently distin- 

 guishes this bird from the stork, to which it 

 is very nearly allied in size and figure. The 

 plumage in general, is ash-coloured ; and 

 there are two large tufts of feathers, that 

 spring from the pinion of each wing. These 

 bear a resemblance to hair, and are finely 

 curled at the ends, which the bird has a power 

 of erecting and depressing at pleasure. Ges- 

 ner says, that these feathers, in his time, used 

 to be set in gold, and worn as ornaments in 

 caps. 



Such are the dimensions of a bird, concern- 

 ing which, not to mention modern times, there 

 have been more fables propagated than of any 

 other. It is a bird with which all the ancient 

 writers are familiar; and, in describing it, 

 they have not failed to mix imagination with 

 history. From the policy of the cranes, they 

 say, we are to look for an idea of the most 

 perfect republic amongst ourselves ; from their 

 tenderness to their decrepit parents, which 

 they take care to nourish, to cherish, and sup- 

 port when flying, we are to learn lessons of 

 filial piety ; but particularly from their con- 

 duct in fighting with the pigmies of Ethiopia, 

 we are to receive our maxims in the art of 

 war. In early times, the history of Nature 

 fell to the lot of poets only, and certainly none 

 could describe it so well ; but it is a part of 

 their province to embellish also ; and when 

 this agreeable science was claimed by a more 

 sober class of people, they were obliged to 

 take the accounts of things as they found 

 them; and, in the present instance, fable ran 

 down blended with truth to posterity. 



In these accounts, therefore, there is some 

 foundation of truth ; yet much more has been 

 added by fancy. The crane is certainly a 

 very social bird, and they are seldom seen 

 alone. Their usual method of flying or sit- 

 ting is in flocks of fifty or sixty together; and 

 while a part feed, the rest stand like sentinels 



upon duty. The fable of their supporting 

 their aged parents, may have arisen from their 

 strict connubial affection ; and as for their 

 fighting with the pigmies, it may not be im- 

 probable but that they have boldly withstood 

 the invasions of monkeys coming to rob their 

 nests ; for in this case, as the crane lives upon 

 vegetables, it is not probable that it would be 

 the first aggressor. 



However this be, the crane is a wandering, 

 sociable bird, that for the most part, subsists 

 upon vegetables; and is known in every coun- 

 try of Europe, except our own. There is no 

 part of the world, says Bellonius, where the 

 fields are cultivated, that the crane does not 

 come in with the husbandman for a share in 

 the harvest. As they are birds of passage, 

 they are seen to depart, and return regularly 

 at those seasons when their provision invites 

 or repels them. They generally leave Eu- 

 rope about the latter end of autumn, and re- 

 turn in the beginning of summer. In the in- 

 land parts of the continent, they are seen 

 crossing the country in flocks of fifty or a 

 hundred, making from the northern regions 

 towards the south. In these migrations, how- 

 ever, they are not so resolutely bent upon 

 going forward, but that if a field of corn offers 

 in their way, they will stop awhile to regale 

 upon it : on such occasions they do incredible 

 damage, chiefly in the night; and the hus- 

 bandman, who lies down in joyful expectation, 

 rises in the morning to see his fields laid en- 

 tirely waste by an enemy, whose march is too 

 swift for his vengeance to overtake. 



Our own country is free from their visits ; 

 not but that they were formerly known in this 

 island, and held in great estimation for the 

 delicacy of their flesh ; there was even a pe- 

 nalty upon such as destroyed their eggs ; but, 

 at present, they never go so far out of their 

 way. 1 Cultivation and populousness go hand 

 in hand; and though our fields may offer 

 them a greater plenty, yet it is so guarded 

 that the birds find the venture greater than 

 the enjoyment ; and probably we are much 

 better off by their absence than their company. 

 Whatever their flesh might once have been, 

 when, as Plutarch tells us, cranes were blinded 

 and kept in coops, to be fattened for the tables 

 of the great in Rome ; or, as they were 

 brought up, stuffed with mint and rue, to the 

 tables of our nobles at home ; at present, they 

 are considered all over Europe as wretched 

 eating. The flesh is fibrous and dry, requir- 

 ing much preparation to make it palatable; 

 and even alter every art, it is fit only for the 

 stomachs of strong and labouring people. 



1 They are still, though very rarely, to be seen in this 

 country. A crane was killed in Oxfordshire, in De- 

 cember, 1830. 



