BRITISH BIRDS. 31 



" Marking the tracts of air, the clamorous Cranes 

 " Wheel their due flight, in varied lines descried; 

 "And each, with out-stretched neck, his rank maintains 

 " In marshall'd order through the ethereal void." 



In summer, they spread themselves over the north 

 of Europe arid Asia as far as the arctic circle; and 

 in the winter are met with in the warmer regions 

 of India, Syria, Egypt, &c., and the Cape of Good 

 Hope. The course of their flight is discovered by 

 the loud noise they make, for they soar to such a 

 height as to be hardly visible to the naked eye. 

 Like the wild Geese, they form themselves into 

 different figures, describing a wedge, a triangle, 

 or a circle. They formerly A T isited the fens and 

 marshes of this island, in large flocks, but they 

 have now entirely forsaken them. 



