THE CRANE KIND. 163 



for an idea of the most perfect republic amongst ourselves ; from t!i<?ir 

 tenderness to their decreped parents, which they take care to nourish 

 to cherish, and support when flying, we are to learn lessons of fii>ij 

 piety ; but particularly from their conduct in fighting with the pig- 

 mies 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 pro- 

 vince to embellish also ; and when this agreeable science was claimed 

 by a more sober class of people, they were obliged to take the ac- 

 counts of things as they found them ; and, in the present instance, fa- 

 ble 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 me- 

 thod of flying or silting, 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 improbable but that they have boldly withstood the in- 

 vasions 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 

 country 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 Europe about the latter end of autumn, and return in 

 the beginning of summer. In the inland parts of the continent, they 

 are seen crossing the country in flocks of fifty or a hundred, making 

 fiom the northern regions towards the south. In these migrations, 

 however, they are not so resolutely bent upon going forward, but 

 that if afield of corn offers fn their way, they will stop awhile to regale 

 upon it : on such occasions they do incredible damage, chiefly in the 

 night; and the husbandman, who lays down in joyful expectation, 

 rises in the morning to see his fields laid entirely 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 penalty upon such as destroy- 

 ed their eggs ; but, at present, they never go so far out of their way 

 Cultivation and populousness go hand in hand ; and though our fields 

 may offer them a great 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 Eu- 

 rope as wretched eating. The flesh" is fibrous and dry, lequiring 



VOL. Ill O 



