24 GRUS AMERICANA. 



derive their name. When wounded, they attack the 

 gunner, or his dog, with great resolution ; and have 

 been known to drive their sharp and formidable bill, at 

 one stroke through a man's hand. 



During 1 winter, they an- frequently seen in the low- 

 grounds and rice plantations of the Southern States, in 

 search of grain and insects. On the 10th of February, 

 I met with several near the Waccamau river, in South 

 Carolina ; I also saw a flock at the ponds near Louisville, 

 Kentucky, on the 20th of March. They are extremely 

 shy and vigilant, so that it is with the greatest 

 difficulty they can be shot. They sometimes rise in the 

 air spirally tQ a great height, the mingled noise of 

 their screaming, even when they are almost beyond the 

 reach of sight, resembling that of a pack of hounds in 

 full cry. On these occasions, they fly around in large 

 circles, as if reconnoitring the country to a vast extent 

 for a fresh quarter to feed in. Their flesh is said to be 

 well tasted, nowise savouring of fish. They swallow 

 mice, moles, rats, &c. with great avidity. They build 

 their nests on the ground, in tussocks of long i;i 

 amidst solitary swamps, raise it to more than a foot 

 in height, and lay two pale blue eggs, spotted with 

 brown. These are much larger, and of a more lengthened 

 form than those of the common hen. 



The cranes are distinguished from the other families 

 of their genus by the comparative baldness of their 

 heads, the broad flag of plumage projecting over the 

 tail, and in general by their superior size. They also 

 differ in their internal organization from all the rest of 

 the heron tribe, particularly in the conformation of the 

 windpipe, which enters the breast-bone in a cavity 

 fitted to receive it, and after several turns goes out 

 again at the same place, and thence descends to the 

 lungs. Unlike the herons, they have not the inner 

 nde of the middle claw pectinated, and, in this species 

 at least, the hind toe is short, scarcely reaching the 

 ground. 



The vast marshy flats of Siberia are inhabited by a 

 crane very much resembling the present, with the 



