COMMON CRANE. 
GRUS COMMUNIS, Bechst. 
Grus communis, Bechstein, Vig. Deutschl. iii. p. 60 (1793) ; 
Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 178; Dresser, vii. p. 337. 
Ardea grus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 234 (1766). 
Grus cinerea, Naum. ix. p. 345; Macg. iv. p. 20; Hewitson, 
li. p. 308. 
Grue cendrée, French; Kranich, German; Grulla, 
Spanish. 
This fine species, which, from many ancient records, 
appears to have bred pretty commonly in the marshy 
districts of the three kingdoms well into the seventeenth 
century, is now only an uncommon and irregular visitor 
to our islands, generally appearing singly or in small 
numbers in the autumn months. [ have a most distinct 
recollection of having, when a child, seen two immense 
birds flying over Hyde Park corner, which filled me 
with astonishment and curiosity; and it was not till 
some fifteen years later, when in Spain, I saw Cranes 
on the wing, that I was able to identify, without the 
slightest doubt, the birds that had so much excited my 
youthful mind. Throughout the south of Europe at 
the seasons of migration long strings of Cranes may be 
often seen, and still more often heard, passing high in 
air, and in February and March the great plains to the 
south of Seville may generally be correctly called full of 
