BUSTARD — CRANE 219 



but one female each (although sometimes a second, while the first one is sitting), 

 resume their ordinary condition. 



In the second half of May, when she can hide herself in the young crop, 

 the hen makes her nest, that is to say, scratches a hole, which is sometimes 

 covered with dry stalks. The nest is generally placed in large fields, among 

 growing corn, where the female can slip in and out unperceived, and is 

 hard to discover. Occasionally the nest may contain as many as three (never 

 more) fertilised eggs. Should the hen perceive an intruder, she raises her head 

 a little above the surrounding herbage, and never removes her eyes from him as 

 she skulks off without being detected. If thoroughly frightened, she leaves her 

 eggs for good. After an incubation of thirty days the chicks, which are at first 

 awkward and do not learn to run for some time, are hatched. They hide with their 

 mother in the corn, and live at first on insects and their larvae, to which later on 

 they add green herbage. The mother defends them bravely against enemies of 

 strength equal to her own, while the cock watches and protects them : should the 

 hen discover an enemy of superior strength, she flutters off as if injured, and so draws 

 away attention from her young. In spring and summer such bustards as are too 

 young for breeding form separate flocks with about five in each. In autumn both 

 young and old birds of the same family associate with others in smaller or larger 

 flocks, and graze and rest in company, the stronger birds placing the younger and 

 weaker in the middle of the party. 



In summer the full-grown bustard feeds principally on the larger insects, but 

 also on green plants, such as dandelion, valerian, hawkweed, young grasses, corn, 

 clover, cabbage, carrots, turnips, and rape. Although a large, stately, and somewhat 

 heavy bird, it is not clumsy, and unites great caution and alertness with keen 

 sight and hearing. Its power of smell is, however, by no means good, and it often 

 raises its head to look round. When undisturbed, it walks in a slow and measured 

 manner, but when pursued runs so fast that it can scarcely be overtaken even by 

 a swift dog. When about to fly, it rises, after a few quick leaps, and then flies 

 slowly and apparently without effort. While flying, a bustard stretches out its 

 neck and legs, and lowers the heavy hind part of its body, thereby being dis- 

 tinguishable from a goose, which it otherwise much resembles in flight. The 

 bustard has many enemies, among them being the golden and sea eagles, while 

 the young are the prey of hawks and falcons, as well as of foxes, martens, weasels, 

 and cats. Its great shyness and vigilance protect the bustard from most of its 

 bird-enemies. In western Europe the bustard is rare, but in Italy and Hungary, 

 as well as in the warmer districts of Kussia, it is still comparatively common. Its 

 range, which formerly included England, extends northwards to southern Sweden, 

 southwards into Africa, and eastwards to central Asia. 



Cranes differ from the bustards by the presence of the hind-toe, 



Crane. . ., 



and from the game-birds by the comparative shortness of the front- 

 toes. The European representative of the group (Grus cinerea) is a bird of 

 the fields or of the marshes, according to its food, which may consist of grain, 

 green seeds, and small plants, or insects, worms, lizards, and small mammals. 

 It prefers plains with not too many trees but abundance of reeds and grasses, as 



