376 INFLUENCES OF CULTIVATION 



the sixteenth century is shown by Bishop Leslie's remark 

 that in Scotland there were " Cranes anew [enough] as 

 lykwyse herounis." Further we may justly compare the 

 conditions here with those in Ireland, where the Crane 

 occurred in great numbers, judging from the account of 

 Giraldus Cambrensis who, in the twelfth century, related 

 that in that country Cranes were often found in flocks of a 

 hundred : " uno in grege centum, et circiter hanc numerum 

 frequenter invenias,"and a manuscript of whose work in the 

 British Museum clearly shows a distinction between the 

 Crane and the Heron, which are illustrated side by side. 

 The distinction indicated by the figures is worth mentioning, 

 because in early Scottish and other records, the name 

 "Crane" is frequently applied to the Heron. Thus when I 

 find that in 1541, John Soutar, in reward for acting as 

 fowler of Cupar Abbey was to receive for a " Crane " or a 

 Swan five shillings, or that an Act of the Scots Parliament 

 of 1551 fixed the price of the "Crane" at five shillings, 

 or that Martin wrote in 1703 regarding "Cranes" in Skye, 

 that " of this latter sort I have seen sixty on the shore in a 

 flock together," I am uncertain whether the references are 

 to Cranes or Herons. I am inclined to believe, however, 

 that the latter is the bird signified, for in the very complete 

 list of prices of wild fowl fixed by the Statute of 1551, 

 the item "the cran five shillings," clearly indicates the 

 Heron, for it is highly improbable that the true Crane 

 would have been mentioned and the commoner Heron 

 omitted, as it would otherwise be, when such birds as Larks, 

 Woodcock, and Plovers are specifically enumerated. It is 

 still a common practice in some districts of Scotland and 

 England to call the Heron a " Crane." 



The Crane has long ceased to breed in Scotland, and 

 now occurs only rarely even as a bird of passage. I n England, 

 as in Scotland, the reclamation of the marshes has completely 

 banished it, for although it bred in East Anglia till 1590 

 and appeared as a regular migrant till a later period, there 

 too it has been unknown as a regular visitor for many a 

 year. 



These are but typical examples of the fates of marsh- 

 loving birds. Many more must have suffered with them. 

 There can be little doubt that such as Herons and Curlews 



