THE CRANE KIND. 307 



also are very peculiar, not being clawed like those 

 of other birds, but flat like the nails of man. 



These, however, are but very slight differences ; 

 and its true distinctions are to be taken rather 

 from its manners than its form. The crane has a 

 loud piercing voice ; the stork is silent, and pro- 

 duces no other noise than the clacking of its 

 under chap against the upper : the crane has a 

 strange convolution of the windpipe through the 

 breast-bone; the stork's is formed in the usual 

 manner : the crane feeds mostly upon vegetables 

 and grain ; the stork preys entirely upon frogs, 

 fishes, birds, and serpents : the crane avoids 

 towns and populous places ; the stork lives al- 

 ways in or near them : the crane lays but two 

 eggs, and the stork generally four. These are 

 distinctions fully sufficient to mark the species, 

 notwithstanding the similitude of their form. 



Storks are birds of passage, like the former ; 

 but it is hard to say whence they come, or whither 

 they go. When they withdraw from Europe, 

 they all assemble on a particular day, and never 

 leave one of their company behind them. They 

 take their flight in the night, which is the reason 

 the way they go has never been observed. They 

 generally return into Europe in the middle of 

 March, and make their nests on the tops of chim- 

 nies and houses, as well as of high trees. The 

 females lay from two to four eggs, of the size and 

 colour of those of geese, and the male and fe- 

 male sit upon them by turns. They are a month 

 in hatching ; and when their young are excluded, 

 they are particularly solicitous for their safety. 



