CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 1. C4R ALL ATORES. 



299 



beneath white ; habits similar to the preceding ; common in Southern Europe ; rare in the North • 

 occasionally seen in England. 



-& 



THE COMMON EUROPEAN CRANE. 



THE GPJTID^'E OE CRANES. 



These are large and stately birds, most of them living exclusively in warm climates. The food 

 is various, comprising insects, reptiles, worms, and fish ; some species likewise frequent plowed 

 and newly-planted fields to pick up seed^, as "well as living prey. They dwell in fields, marshes, 

 and along the margins of ponds, but always roost in trees, where they also nest, as well as on 

 the ground. When incubation commences, the nest is raised to the height of the body with grass 

 and reeds ; they are said to lay but two eggs, on which each alternately broods in a standing pos- 

 ture, the legs striding the nest. They migrate in vast flocks, and perform very extensive peri- 

 odical journeys, passing along in the higher regions of the atmosphere ; they often move in the 

 night, and usually in troops arranged in long triangular lines, guided by the shrill voice of their 

 leader, which, re-echoed by the timorous and unseen ranks, affords often the only indication of the 



