THE


Avicultural Magazine


BEING THE JOURNAL OF

THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY

FOR THE STUDY OF

FOREIGN & BRITISH BIRDS

IN FREEDOM & CAPTIVITY



Third Series. —Vol. XII. —No. 3.— All rights reserved. MARCH, 1921.


THE WHITE ASIATIC CRANE


By W. H. St. Quinton, F.Z.S.


Anthropoides leucogeranus


Mr. F. E. Blaauw, in his beautiful monograph on the Cranes, while

protesting against the further splitting up of the family, admits three

genera, and places the White Asiatic Crane in the second genus,

Anthropoides, with the Demoiselle, Wattled, Stanley, and the White-

naped species.


According to Mr. Blaauw’s views, the White-naped and the Crane

under notice are closely related. Extremely little is known of the

habits of the A. leucogeranus, except what has been written about it

by Mr. A. 0. Hume ; and all subsequent writers quote at length from

his very detailed and graphic description, for there is no other

information accessible about the bird in its wild state.


Hume wrote of the bird as he knew it wintering in Northern India,

but not very much is to be learned of birds which we only know as

winter visitors, as then they are mainly occupied by questions of food

and self-preservation Pallas describes the nest, which he found in

1773, and I believe no recent writer has seen this Crane in its summer

home in the Siberian morasses. I have had four or five of these Cranes

at various times, but, apart from its beauty, have found the bird less

friendly to its owner and generally less interesting than most members

of the family. But I have not had the fortune to possess a good pair

and we never had a nest here. At Lilford I believe eggs have been

laid, but they were unfertile, and the splendid pair at the London


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