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bird is mentioned as having regularly visited Britain for- 

 merly, and as having bred here, but the progress of draining 

 and cultivation is supposed to have dislodged it from some 

 of its favourite resorts. The fens of Lincolnshire and Cam- 

 bridgeshire are especially named as districts once frequented 

 by it in considerable numbers. At present it is a rare 

 visitor. Its nest is placed far from the usual track of hu- 

 man feet, in the midst of the wild morass, among rushes, 

 reeds, and the rank herbage of swampy places, or sometimes 

 it is said among ruins. The eggs, two in number, are large, 

 and of a greenish hue, with brown markings. The Cranes 

 do not derive their sole subsistence from lakes and marshes, 

 but live in a great measure upon vegetable food, frequenting, 

 at times, plains, newly-sown lands, and cultivated districts. 

 The flight of the Crane is taken at a great elevation, so that 

 the cries of the flock may be heard while the birds which 

 compose it are scarcely visible to the eye. 



THE GLOSSY IBIS. Ibis falcinellus. The habits of the 

 Ibises are reported by one authority closely to resemble 

 those of the Stork ; and by another, those of the present 

 species at least, are described as being in some particulars 

 very like those of the Heron. The Glossy Ibis is the only 

 species of the genus which has been known to visit Britain, 



