478 CLASS AVES. 



bodes serene weather ; a lower flight, or a retreat to the 

 earth, is the symptom of a storm. 



The cranes, when assembled for repose during the night, 

 sleep with their head under the wing ; but one of them always 

 watches with his head raised, to give the signal of alarm in 

 case of approaching danger. 



It is in the low grounds and marshes of the northern 

 countries that the cranes on their return build their nests. 

 These are placed on small eminences of turf, and constructed 

 with reeds and grass interlaced. Here the female lays two 

 eggs of a greenish-ash colour, and she covers them standing 

 up. The male partakes the cares of incubation ; and which- 

 ever of the birds is not engaged in this function, watches at 

 a little distance for the security of the other. Their attach- 

 ment for their young is so great that the white crane of 

 Siberia will rush even upon men who approach the nest, and 

 not unfrequently succeed in driving them away. 



The flesh of the young is delicate ; it used to constitute 

 one of the dishes at the banquets of Rome, and was sold in 

 the markets of that city. The same was once the case in 

 England, where, according to Willoughby and other writers, 

 these birds were once sufficiently plentiful. This, however, 

 is no longer the case, for they are very rarely seen in this 

 country. They are peculiarly abundant in the Steppes of 

 Tartary, and on the confines of Mongolia. 



The crane is said to be a long lived bird. The philosopher 

 Leonicus Thomaeus, according to Paulus Jovius, kept one 

 alive for forty years. These birds can be taught to assume 

 peculiar gestures, and to dance. They are hunted in various 

 ways ; but as it is not easy to get very near them, the most 

 successful method of killing them is with ball cartridge. 



The Courliri is the name at Cayenne for the bird repre- 

 sented in the " Planches Enluminees" of Buifon, under the 

 name of Courlan. Gmelin and Latham have placed it among 



