no ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



with other Herons, just as it used to do in England in days 

 gone by, but in Europe its nests are usually found on the 

 ground or on low trees, such as willows or alders. A visit to the 

 Horster Meer, near Amsterdam, where the birds are protected, 

 is described by Dr. Sclater and the late Mr. W. A. Forbes in 

 the "Ibis" for 1877 (pp. 412-416), who recount the finding 

 of the eggs : " The nests were not situated so near together 

 as those of the Cormorants, but scattered about two or three 

 yards from each other, with thin patches of reeds growing be- 

 tween them. There was, however, a clear open space in the 

 neighbourhood, formed of broken-down reeds, in which the 

 birds were said to congregate. The Spoon-bill's nest, in the 

 Horster Meer at least, is a mere flattened surface of broken 

 reed, not elevated more than two or three inches above the 

 general level of the swamp ; and no other substance but reed 

 appears to be used in its construction." 



Eggs. Four or five in number, of a dull chalky-white, 

 with spots or streaks of reddish-brown, sometimes blotches. 

 In some instances, too, there are only purplish underlying 

 spots to be seen, with scarcely any overlying red blotches, 

 while in others the underlying spots are scarcely to be distin- 

 guished. They vary considerably in size, some being long and 

 some round. Axis, 2'55-2'95 inches; diam., i*65-i'86. 



THE CRANE-LIKE BIRDS. ORDER GRUIFORMES. 



The characters for the definition of this Order are chiefly 

 anatomical. The dorsal vertebrae are " heterocaelous " and 

 the spinal feather-tract is not defined on the neck. The oil- 

 gland is tufted and the young are able to move about soon 

 after they are hatched. There are generally no notches on the 

 posterior margin of the breast-bone, and there are no powder- 

 down patches as in the Herons. The True Cranes are a well 

 marked Family, but some of the allied ones, such as the 

 Sun-Bitterns (Eurypyges\ the Kagus (ki*ochetes),zn& the Mas- 

 carene Mesilides, though allied to the Cranes, show several 

 osteological differences. 



