THE CRANE. 



179 



doubts concerning the Balearic Crane. Pliny 

 has described a bird of the crane kind with a 

 topping resembling that of the green wood- 

 pecker. This bird for a long time continued 

 unknown, till we became acquainted Avith 

 the birds of tropical climates, when one of the 

 crane kind with a topping was brought into 

 Europe, and described by Aldrovandus as 

 Pliny's Balearic crane. Hence these birds, 

 which have since been brought from Africa 

 and the east in numbers, have received the 

 name of Balearic cranes, but without any just 

 foundation. The real Balearic crane of Pliny 

 seems to be the lesser ash-coloured heron, 

 with a topping of narrow white feathers ; or 

 perhaps the egret, with two long feathers that 

 fall back from the sides of the head. The 

 bird that we are about to describe under the 

 name of the Balearic crane, was unknown 

 to the ancients, and the heron or egret ought 

 to be reinstated in their just title to that 

 name. 



When we see a very extraordinary ani- 

 mal, we are naturally led to suppose that 

 there must be something also remarkable in 

 its history, to correspond with the singularity 

 of its figure. But it often happens that his- 

 tory tails on those occasions where AVC most 

 desire information. In the present instance, 

 in particular, no bird presents to the eye a 

 more whimsical figure than this, which we 

 must be content to call the Balearic Crane. 

 It is pretty nearly of the shape and size of 

 the ordinary crane, with long legs and a long 



rate hands. Their flight is rapid and sustained, but 

 they do not put themselves in motion, except in the 

 morning and evening, for the purpose of seeking their 

 food, which consists of insects, shell animals, and small 

 fishes, collected in the slime along the sea-coast, or at 

 the mouths of rivers. During the greatest heat of the 

 day and at night, they remain in sheltered places. The 

 broods commence in January, and are concluded in 

 May. They deposit their eggs, which are greenish, in 

 large tufts of grass, or on little piles collected in the 

 brush-wood. These ibides are spread throughout the 

 warmest countries of America, and being not at all wild 

 they are easily accustomed to live in houses. M. de la 

 Borde mentions his having kept one for more than two 

 years. It was fed with bread, raw or cooked meat, and 

 fish ; but it gave the preference to the entrails of fish 

 and fowl. It would frequently occupy itself in seeking 

 for earth-worms around the house, or following the 

 labours of a negro gardener. In the evening, this bird 

 \vould retire of itself into a poultry-house, where it re- 

 posed in the midst of a hundred fowl. H would perch 

 on the highest bar, awake very early in the morning, fly 

 round the house, and sometimes proceed to the sea-shore. 

 It would attack cats with great intrepidity. It would 

 have lived longer, had it not been accidentally killed, 

 by a fowler, who mistook it for a wild curlew, when it 

 was on a pond. All this shows the possibility of rear- 

 ing in the warmer climates of Europe a bird which, 

 according to the testimony of Laet, has already pro- 

 duced in a domestic state, and may, perhaps, one day 

 he turned to good account. (For Wood Ibis, see Plate 

 XIX. fig. 12.) 



neck, like others of the kind ; but the bill is 

 shorter, and the colour of the feathers of a 

 dark greenish gray. The head and throat 

 form the most striking part of this bird's 

 figure. On the head is seen, standing up, a 

 thick round crest, made of bristles, spreading 

 every way, and resembling rays standing out 

 in different directions. The longest of these 

 rays are about three inches and a half, and 

 they are all topped with a kind of black 

 tassels, which give them a beautiful appear- 

 ance. The sides of the head and cheeks are 

 bare, whitish, and edged with red ; while 

 underneath the throat hangs a kind of bag or 

 wattle, like that of a cock^ but not divided 

 into two, to give this odd composition a higher 

 finishing, the eye is large and staring; the 

 pupil black and big, surrounded with a gold- 

 coloured iris, that completes the bird's very 

 singular appearance. 



From such a peculiar figure, we might be 

 led to wish for a minute history of its man- 

 ners; but of these we can give but slight 

 information. This bird comes from the coast 

 of Africa and the Cape de Verd islands. As 

 it runs, it stretches out its wings, and goes 

 very swiftly, otherwise its usual motion is 

 very slow. In their domestic state, they walk 

 very deliberately among other poultry, and 

 suffer themselves to be approached (at least 

 it was so with that I saw) by every spectator. 

 They never roost in houses ; but about night, 

 when they are disposed to go to rest, they 

 search out some high wall, on which they 

 perch in the manner of a peacock. Indeed, 

 they so much resemble that bird in manners 

 and disposition, that some have described 

 them by the name of the sea peacock: and 

 Ray has been inclined to rank them in the 

 same family. But though their voice and 

 roosting be similar, their food, which is en- 

 tirely upon greens, vegetables, and barley, 

 seems to make some difference. 



In this chapter of foreign birds of the 

 crane kind, it will be proper to mention the 

 Jabiru and the Jabiru Guacu, both natives of 

 Brazil. Of these great birds of the crane 

 kind we know but little, except the general 

 outline of their figure, and the enormous bills 

 which we often see preserved in the cabinets 

 of the curious. The bill of the latter is red, 

 and thirteen inches long; the bill of the for- 

 mer is black, and is found to be eleven. 

 Neither of them, however, are of a size pro- 

 portioned to their immoderate length of bill. 

 The jabiru guacu is not above the size of a, 

 common stork, while the jabiru with the 

 smallest bill exceeds the size of a swan. 

 They are both covered with white feathers, 

 except the head and neck, that are naked: 

 and their principal difference is in the size of 

 the body and the make of the bill ; the lower 



