4 GRALLATORES. GRUS. CRANE. 



Tail rather short, and consisting of twelve feathers. 



Wings rounded ; the first quill shorter than the second ; 

 the third the longest of all. In plumage, the head more or 

 less naked, or thinly clad with bristles. Upper part of the 

 neck, with the feathers linear and acuminated. The rest of the 

 plumage close set. Secondary quills, nearest the back, elongat- 

 ed, dependent, arched, frequently with webs open and distinct. 



The genus Grus, as now restricted, ' contains several spe- 

 cies, all birds of large size, inhabitants of extensive marshy 

 plains, where they subsist upon vegetables, grains, seeds, 

 worms, and reptiles. Their habits are more those of land 

 birds than any of the succeeding family .Ardeadce, to which, 

 however, they are nearly allied, forming a connecting link ; 

 their plumage and appearance at the same time indicating 

 their connexion with the Struthionida of the rasorial order. 

 Of the various known species, only one is a native of Eu- 

 rope, viz. the Grus cinerea, or Common Crane, which at one 

 time appears to have been common in Britain, but is now on- 

 ly found as a rare visitant. They are all birds of migra- 

 tory habits, retiring, from whatever division of the globe they 

 happen to belong, to more northerly or colder regions du- 

 ring the summer, or period of reproduction. In most of 

 the species of this genus, as well as in Anthropoides, the 

 trachea of the male is of various construction, making seve- 

 ral convolutions, previous to its entrance within the thorax. 



COMMON CRANE. 



GRUS CINEREA, Bechst. 

 PLATE I. 



Grus cinerea, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 4. p. 103 Temm. Man. d'Ornith. v. 2. 



p. 557 Steph. Shaw's Zool. v. 11. 524. pi. 40 Wagler, Syst. Av. sp. 9. 

 Ardea Grus, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 234. 4 Briss. 5. p. 374. 6. t. 33 Rail Syn. 



p. 95. A. 1. 



La Grue, Buff. Ois. v. 7- p- 287. t. 14. 

 Grue cendree, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. 2. p. 557- 

 Aschgrauer Kranick, Meyer, Taschenb. Deut. 2. p. 350. 



