. .GRUS. 187 



middle of the day and the whole night in the sandy beds of rivers 

 or on the borders of banks or marshes, feed in the grain-fields in 

 the early morning and in the evening, and fly from one to the 

 other in an extended line, frequently more or less V-shaped. The 

 call of this bird is a fine clear note, often uttered during flight and 

 not unfrequently heard when the birds are at so great a height in 

 the air as to be almost out of sight. Cranes that have fed for a 

 time on the grain and shoots of wheat, rice, gram, arhar, and other 

 crops are delicious ; ill-fed birds are coarse. The Common Crane 

 has not been known to breed in India. 



1403. Grus leucogeranus. The Great White or Siberian Crane. 



Grus leucogeranus, Pall. Reis. Russ. R?ichs, ii, p. 714 (1773); 



Irby, Ibis, 1861, p. 243; Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 663; Blyth, Ibis, 



1867, p. 166 ; Hume, Ibin, 1868, p. 28 : Brooks, Ibis, 1869, p. 237; 



McMasterj J. A. 8. B. xl, pt. 2, p. 215 ; Hume, S. F. i, p. 23n ; 



Butler, S. F. vii, p. 187; Hume, Cat. no. 864; Hume & Marsh. 



Game B. iii, p. 11, pi.; Reid, S. F. x, p. 67; Barnes, Birds 



Bom. p. 341. 

 Sarcoo-eranus leucopreranus, SJtarpe, Bull. B. O. Club, vol. i, p. xxxvii 



(1893) ; id. Ibis, 1893, p. 439; id. Cat. B. M. xxiii, p. 2H1. 



Kdre-Khar (N. W. P.) ; Tunhi (Oudh); Chini Kulang (Hansi), H. 



Coloration. Fore part of crown and sides of head to behind the 

 eyes bare of feathers. Plumage white throughout, except the 

 primaries and their greater coverts with the winglet, which are 

 black. Young birds have the head feathered throughout and the 

 plumage tinged with buff. 



Naked skin of head dull reddish ; hill umber-brown ; irides 

 bright pale yellow ; legs and feet pale reddish pink (Hume). 



Length of male about 54; tail 8: wing 24; tarsus 11; bill 

 from gape 7*75. Females are rather smaller, wing 23. 

 . Distribution. A rare winter visitor to parts of North-western 

 India, chieflv the Eastern Punjab, Northern Smd, the North-west 

 Provinces, and Oudh. Mr. Forsyth saw a flock at Dehri near 

 Sasseram, and Col. McMaster shot a straggler near Nagpur. This 

 Crane breeds in Siberia, and is found occasionally throughout 

 Northern and Central Asia. 



habits, &fc. We are indebted to Hume for most of our know- 

 ledge of this bird. It is found in India, either in family parries 

 generally consisting of three (the two old birds and one young) 

 or in small flocks, probably composed of birds in their second 

 year that have not paired. They arrive in October and leave 

 about the end of March, and during their residence remain 

 constantly about particular large marshes (jhils), keeping in 

 shallow water and feeding on water-plants. They are exceedingly 

 wary. Their cry is described by Hume as a feeble repetition of a 

 sound like Kdrtlchar, the native name, but it is said by Brooks to 

 be merely a whistle. By all observers this Crane is described as a 

 most beautiful and graceful bird, excelling even the Sarus in this 

 respect. The nidification is unknown. 



