37 



perate parts only to feed or rest for a short time, and proceed 

 to the most northern regions, where they breed, nestling in 

 marshy places, and laying two eggs of a greenish-grey colour, 

 with brown spots. They are remarkably swift-footed, but rise 

 on wing with difficulty. Their food consists of vegetable sub- 

 stances, worms, and insects. 



Common Crane. 



Ardea Grus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 234. Ardea Grus, Lath. 

 Ind. Ornith. ii. 674. Grus cinerea, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 

 567. Grus cinerea, Grey Crane, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 



FAMILY XXXIII. OTIK/E. OTINE BIRDS, 

 OR BUSTARDS. 



The birds of this family vary greatly in size, some be- 

 ing very large, while others are so small that their re- 

 semblance in form is not at first sight obvious. In external 

 appearance they may be said to be intermediate between 

 Partridges and Plovers ; or they resemble Gallinaceous 

 birds of which the legs are elongated, and the toes short- 

 ened. Their body is ovate, large, little compressed ; the 

 neck long and rather slender ; the head of moderate size, 

 ovate, somewhat compressed, and rounded above. Bill 

 shorter than the head, moderately stout, or rather slen- 

 der, nearly straight, or sometimes considerably arched, 

 broader than high at the base, compressed toward the end ; 

 upper mandible with the dorsal line straight to the mid- 

 dle, then declinate and convex, the ridge narrow, the nasal 

 sinus large, and filled by a membrane which is feathered 

 at the base, the edges partially inflected, the tip narrow ; 

 lower mandible with the angle long and narrow, the dor- 

 sal line slightly ascending and nearly straight, the edges 

 sharp and direct, the tip narrow ; the gape-line little 

 arched, and commencing before the eyes. Mouth of mo- 

 derate width, or rather narrow ; tongue trigonal, fleshy, 

 tapering ; oesophagus rather narrow, without dilatation ; 

 proventriculus bulbiform ; stomach a strong gizzard, with 

 the lateral muscles large, and the epithelium dense ; in- 



